Interactive and dynamic digital event program

ABSTRACT

A method for distributing an interactive digital event program to a plurality of user devices comprising: receiving a request for an interactive digital event program from a first user device, the request received in response to scanning a first tag having a machine-readable code with the first user device; determining that the first tag belongs to a first group of tags to which a first version of the interactive digital event program is to be distributed; providing the first user device with the first version of the interactive digital event program, the first version of the interactive digital event program to include at least one dynamic content element that is capable of being updated while an event is in progress; and updating the at least one dynamic content element in the first version of the interactive digital event program in response to a predefined trigger.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/660,823 filed on Apr. 26, 2022, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 63/201,376 filed on Apr. 27, 2021,U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/201,373 filed on Apr. 27,2021, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/269,015 filed on Mar.8, 2022, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/446,298 filed on Aug.29, 2021, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 17/302,233 filed on Apr. 27, 2021, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/015,688 filed on Apr. 27,2020, all with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to using a machine-readable codeto access an interactive digital program such as program for an event.The present invention also relates generally to methods and systems thatenable electronic delivery of interactive digital event programs todevices in response to using the devices to read/scan machine-readablecodes and to dynamically update the digital event program during thecourse of the event.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Traditionally, events, whether large or small, typically provide somesort of outline or program to accompany the event. The program can be assimple as words on a chalkboard for a simple service or as elaborate asa “souvenir program” for a big production. Commonly, even today, eventprograms are printed on paper and handed to attendees. Many printedevent programs end up on the floor or in the trash despite attempts tocollect them for recycling.

With the advent of the digital age, some venues, event, and other suchproviders use digital programs as an alternative to paper programs. Manyof these digital programs are simply electronic versions of paperprograms in a portable document format (PDF) or similar digital format.Thus, even though digital, they may not translate to an enjoyabledigital user experience and the content therein is largely pre-embeddedbefore publishing, which may be outdated before the event even takesplace. Furthermore, with these types of event programs, coupons or othersponsor offers have to be downloaded and/or printed before use, whichmay reduce the appeal for sponsors to advertise in these types ofdigital publications, which, in turn, may reduce a source of revenue tooffset the cost of creating/maintaining the event program. Modernconsumers have higher expectations than what is currently offered in theway of event programs including digital event programs.

Thus, there is a need for elevated ways to provide information to peopleinterested in an event. The systems and methods described herein detailelegant solutions for providing relevant information and interactionsrelating to an event dynamically, as the user is experiencing the event.Generally, tags including machine-readable codes are utilized to provideusers with interactive and dynamically updated digital event programs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a preferred embodiment, a method for distributing different versionsof an interactive digital event program corresponding to an event to aplurality of user devices comprising: (a) receiving a request for aninteractive digital event program from a first user device, the requestreceived in response to scanning a first tag having a machine-readablecode with the first user device; (b) determining that the first tagbelongs to a first group of tags to which a first version of theinteractive digital event program is to be distributed; (c) providingthe first user device with the first version of the interactive digitalevent program, the first version of the interactive digital eventprogram to include at least one dynamic content element that is capableof being updated through a third party integration while the event is inprogress; and (d) updating the at least one dynamic content element inthe first version of the interactive digital event program in responseto detecting an occurrence of a predefined trigger.

In a further embodiment, the method wherein updating the at least onedynamic content element includes updating dynamic content selected fromthe group consisting of: a map, a video replay, augmented reality, liveaction video, a fan camera, a fan filter, live statistics, anon-fungible token, wagering, an audience participation activity,upcoming events, merchandise, concessions, a digital offer, and aticket.

In a further embodiment, the method wherein updating the at least onedynamic content element includes unlocking the digital offer in responseto detecting the use of an in-venue map.

In a further embodiment, the method wherein updating the at least onedynamic content element includes disposing icons on the in-venue mapcorresponding to locations of one or more additional tags that aredistributed within a venue in which the event is taking place. In afurther embodiment, the method further comprising facilitating ascavenger hunt within the venue utilizing the one or more additionaltags.

In a further embodiment, the method wherein updating the at least onedynamic content element includes updating the dynamic content element toinclude a digital offer, the digital offer to be automaticallydownloaded to a digital wallet on the first user device.

In a further embodiment, the method wherein updating the at least onedynamic content element includes updating the dynamic content element toinclude streamed live action video taking place at the event. In afurther embodiment, the method wherein updating the at least one dynamiccontent element includes updating the dynamic content element to includea video replay of action that took place during the event. In a furtherembodiment, the method or 8 further comprising overlaying, embedding, orboth of an augmented reality object on the video.

In a further embodiment, the method further comprising linking the atleast one dynamic content element to a third party integration for adigital offer after the event has started.

In a further embodiment, the method further comprising dynamicallymoving the at least one dynamic content element within the first versionof the interactive digital event program while the event is taking placeto maximize exposure of the at least one dynamic content element to aplurality of users.

In a further embodiment, the method wherein the at least one dynamiccontent element includes a digital offer and syncing the digital offerto advertising shown on a jumbo screen, a televised broadcast of theevent, or both.

In a further embodiment, the method wherein the at least one dynamiccontent element includes statistical information, updating thestatistical information in real time as the event is taking place, andinserting a dynamic image element proximate the statistical informationto dynamically display an image corresponding to the statisticalinformation.

In a further embodiment, the method wherein updating the at least onedynamic content element includes updating the at least one dynamiccontent element to include an offer for a non-fungible token of thefirst version of the interactive digital event program.

In a further embodiment, the method wherein the at least one dynamiccontent element is a listing of upcoming events comprising includingcustomizing the listing of upcoming events based on a tag scanninghistory associated with the first user device, a primary geographicalposition associated with the first user device, a current geographicalposition associated with the first user device, or combinations thereof.

In a further embodiment, the method wherein updating dynamic contentincludes updating the digital offer based on current levels of inventoryavailable at the event. In a further embodiment, the method whereinupdating dynamic content includes updating the digital offer tocustomize the digital offer to appeal to a demographic associated thefirst group of tags.

In a further embodiment, the method further comprising updating theinteractive digital event program after the event is over. In a furtherembodiment, the method further comprising continuing updating the firstversion of the interactive digital event program throughout a season ofevents to document the season of events.

In a further embodiment, the method further comprising basing theinteractive digital event program on a template, the at least onedynamic content element dragged and dropped into a desired positionwithin the template, and wherein the at least one dynamic contentelement can be modified by an administrator within the template. In afurther embodiment, the method further including repositioning the atleast one dynamic content element in the template while the event istaking place.

In a further embodiment, the method further comprising: (e) receiving asecond request for an interactive digital program from a second userdevice, the second request received in response to scanning a second taghaving a machine-readable code with the second user device; (f)determining that the second tag belongs to a second group to which asecond version of the interactive digital event program is to bedistributed; and (g) providing the second user device with the secondversion of the interactive digital event program, the second version toinclude a dynamic content element to be populated throughout the eventusing the third party integration.

In a further embodiment, the method wherein the first tag is at a venuein which the event is being held and the second tag is on or in atelevised video stream.

In a preferred embodiment, a method of distributing different versionsof an interactive digital event program for a particular event to userdevices comprising: (a) designing a template for each of at least twoversions of the interactive digital event program by dragging anddropping a plurality of dynamic content elements into each template tocomplete a desired layout; (b) associating each dynamic content elementin the plurality with a distinct data source to dynamically updatecontent within the dynamic content element while the particular event isin progress; (c) assigning each version of the at least two versions ofthe interactive digital event program to separate groups of tags, eachtag in each separate group having a unique tag identifier; (d) inresponse to receiving a request for the interactive digital eventprogram from the user device that has scanned a particular tag,determining to which group the particular tag belongs based on theunique tag identifier for the particular tag; (e) sending the version ofthe interactive digital event program assigned to the group of tags inwhich the particular tag belongs to the user device that sent therequest; and (f) causing the distinct data sources to populate theassociated dynamic content elements in the template for the sent versionof the interactive digital event program, the content of least one ofthe associated dynamic content elements to be updated while the event isin progress and in response to a predefined trigger that has occurred inthe event.

In a preferred embodiment, a system for providing an interactive digitalevent program comprising: (a) a plurality of tags, each tag in theplurality having a machine-readable code and a unique tag identifier;(b) a server having a computer processor and computer memory; (c) adatabase operatively connected to the server, the database includinginformation relating to each tag in the plurality of tags, theinformation relating to each tag including: (i) the unique tagidentifier; (ii) a group identifier to identify a group to which the tagbelongs; and (iii) a template for an interactive digital event programto be distributed to the group in which the tag belongs; and (d) whereinthe computer memory of the server stores executable code which whenexecuted enables the server to perform a process comprising: (i) inresponse to receiving a request from a user device that has scanned atag, using the unique tag identifier from the scanned tag to identifythe group to which the scanned tag belongs; (ii) populating the templatefor the interactive digital event program to be distributed to the groupin which the tag belongs with one or more dynamic content elements;(iii) sending the populated interactive digital event program to theuser device that sent the request; and (iv) updating the content of atleast one dynamic content element in response to detecting a predefinedtrigger based on activity within the event that optionally occurredduring the event.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein updating the content of theat least one dynamic content element includes pushing updated contentfrom a third party data source to the at least one dynamic contentelement in response to detecting the predefined trigger. In a furtherembodiment, the system wherein the predefined trigger is a pause in theactivity and updating the content of at least one dynamic contentelement includes pushing updated content from the third party datasource in response to detecting a pause in the activity.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein updating the content of atleast one dynamic content element includes unlocking content in responseto detecting the predefined trigger.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the predefined trigger is athreshold number and dynamically updating includes detecting that thethreshold number has been reached and unlocking the content in responseto reaching the threshold number.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the content of the at leastone dynamic content element is subject matter associated with anon-fungible token (NFT) and updating the content of at least onedynamic content element in response to detecting a predefined triggerincludes unlocking the subject matter in response to detecting thepredefined trigger to enable acquisition of the NFT.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the interactive digitalevent program continues to be updated after the event ends.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the database stores aplurality of identifiable images and the server selects an identifiableimage to display in association with the at least one dynamic contentelement.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the at least one dynamiccontent element defines an augmented reality video.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the machine-readable code islocated within a video stream, wherein the unique tag identifier isutilized to determine which interactive digital event program to displayto said user device.

In a further embodiment, the system further comprising a geolocationdetermination wherein a location of the user device is defined within arule within a tag group to alter the interactive digital event programdirected to said user device.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein a venue is selected from thegroup consisting of: a school, a cultural event location, a zoo, a musicvenue, and combinations thereof.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the dynamic content elementis connected to a third party API and wherein the third party APIdisseminates the dynamic content element upon the occurrence of atrigger.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the tag grouping defines aversion of the interactive digital event program that is displayed tosaid user device.

In a further embodiment, the system further comprising wherein a cameradefined on the user device captures video, wherein the captured video isuploaded into the interactive digital event program and the capturedvideo is released as the dynamic content element.

In a further embodiment, the system further comprising wherein thedynamic content element displays a portion of video, said portion ofvideo being a replay, a highlight, or augmented reality.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the dynamic content elementis an advertisement.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the user device comprises aunique ID wherein the unique ID defines an entry within a database andwherein the entry comprises information regarding actions of the uniqueID; aggregating the data regarding the unique ID from said database; andcreating a tag grouping based upon the aggregated data on the unique IDand modifying the dynamic content element on said interactive digitalevent program. In a further embodiment, the system wherein the systemcollects and aggregates analytical user data corresponding to saidunique ID when said user device is interacting with the interactivedigital event program.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the dynamic content elementis a real-time polling question and wherein a result from the real-timepolling question is displayed. In a further embodiment, the systemwherein the dynamic content element is related to fantasy sports orwagering.

In a further embodiment, the system wherein the tag grouping is definedwithin a section of a venue and wherein the tag grouping is awarded aprize which is pushed into the user device within the dynamic contentelement within the interactive digital event program.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a system for user device generatedinteractions with a system and platform for accessing and viewingtargets, such as a GUI for an interactive digital event program.

FIG. 2 depicts a stadium comprising a plurality of seats, rows, andsections and a user device that is accessing a user portal including anoption for viewing an interactive digital event program.

FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of a system for accessing targetinformation from a user device from within a venue or outside of a venueand various backend platforms for implementing certain targetinformation or for delivering content to the user device.

FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of a system for identifying and usinginformation particular to a user device and/or to a tag for directingthe user device to an appropriate target.

FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment of a system wherein the system is enabledto push or pull data or information or due to triggering events or rulesto modify or augment a target delivered to a user device.

FIG. 6 depicts a user device displaying an exemplary interface for aninteractive digital event program.

FIG. 7 depicts a further embodiment of an exemplary interface for aninteractive digital event program.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments are described more fully hereinafter with referenceto the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which show,by way of illustration, specific exemplary embodiments by which theinnovations may be practiced. The embodiments may, however, be embodiedin many different forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the embodiments to those skilled in the art. Amongother things, the various embodiments may be methods, systems, media,devices, or any similar or equivalent arrangements known to thoseskilled in the art. Accordingly, the various embodiments may take theform of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodimentor an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. The followingdetailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

As used in this application, the words “a,” “an,” and “one” are definedto include one or more of the referenced items unless specificallystated otherwise. The terms “approximately” and “about” are defined tomean ±10%, unless otherwise stated. Also, the terms “have,” “include,”“contain,” and similar terms are defined to mean “comprising” unlessspecifically stated otherwise. Furthermore, the terminology used in thespecification provided above is hereby defined to include similar and/orequivalent terms, and/or alternative embodiments that would beconsidered obvious to one skilled in the art given the teachings of thepresent patent application.

As used herein, the below terms will have the following meanings as maybe supplemented elsewhere in this specification:

ADDRESS: Code used to direct a user device, browser, web app,progressive web app, administrator device, server, database, API, tool,software, etc., to a resource within the system or a network.Nonlimiting examples of addresses include a uniform resource identifier(URI) or a uniform resource locator (URL).

ADMINISTRATOR: The individual or group of individuals with the abilityto control and set rules and parameters within the system. This could bea third party administrator, the proprietor, the venue, the owner of thetags, the team or performer participating in the event, a designatedemployee of any of the foregoing, etc.

ADMINISTRATOR DEVICE: Any type of mobile or non-mobile processing devicesuch as a desktop computer, handheld computer (e.g., phone, smartphone,tablet, personal digital assistant), wearable computer (e.g., smartwatch, smart glasses), portable computers (e.g., laptop, netbooks,Chromebook), or wearable or implantable device, and the like usingwireless communication, a camera or other connectivity element that isaccessible only to an administrator or proprietor or an employeedesignated by the administrator or proprietor.

ANALYTICS OR ANALYTICAL DATA: Data collected by the system or retrievedby the system via an API call to an external server or database.Nonlimiting examples of analytical data include date, time, GPSlocation, personal identifying information, etc.

APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (“API”): An application programinginterface or programming code that enables data transmission within thesystem, between the system's server and an external server or betweenone software product and another. Nonlimiting examples of APIconnections to the system may be third party vendor databases such asticketing sales platforms, e-commerce sites such as merchandise sales,social media sites, or any other third party software product that makestheir API available for use by others.

API CALL: Computer code used by the system software to access data,server software or other applications within the system or external tothe system, acting as an intermediary between any two devices or serversthat want to connect with each other for a specified task. As usedherein, API can mean (i) representational state transfer or Rest(RESTful) API; (ii) Simple Object Access Protocol (“SOAP”) API; (iii)extensible markup language—Remote Procedure Calls (“XML-RPC”); (iv) JSONRemote Procedure Calls (“JSON-RPC), (v) open API; (vi) partner API;(viii) internal or private API; (ix) composite API; or (x) any other APIthat is generally known, or will be come to be known in the art. Thus,the system frequently uses an API, or sends an API request, to aninternal or external program, server, or database to deliver requestedinformation.

BLOCKCHAIN: Any digitally distributed, decentralized, public or privateledger that exists across a network such as those offered by theproviders including but not limited to Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain,Polkadot, Flow by Dapper Labs, EOS, Tron, Tezos, WAX, Theta, etc.

BROWSER APPLICATION: An application that runs within the Web browser ofa User Device or Computer. The instructions or executable code,typically written in a combination of HTML and JavaScript, is embeddedwithin the Web page that is downloaded from a website.

COMPUTER: May be any type of computer such as a laptop computer, desktopcomputer, tablet, and the like, and includes the appropriate hardware,firmware, and software to enable the computer to function as intended.

CONTENT: Any type of information, images, videos, etc. Nonlimitingexamples of content can be a video file, an image file, text, executablecode, a digital offer, a digital coupon, a digital wallet offer, an AR,VR or mixed reality filter, a game, a poll, an app, an NFT, etc. Contentcan be specifically formatted for optimal viewing on a user device.

CRYPTO CURRENCY: Any digital currency in which transactions are verifiedand records maintained on a distributed ledger such as blockchain, forexample, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Binance Coin, Tether, Solana, XRP,Dogecoin, etc.

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: A software package designed to define,manipulate, retrieve, and manage data in a database, or any othergenerally accepted definition known to those skilled in the art.

DIGITAL OFFER: Any incentive or reward, for example an incentive topurchase at a discounted price or a free giveaway, offered by aproprietor and delivered to users from a server to a user device througha variety of channels. A Digital offer can be code stored in the user'sdigital wallet, an MRC displayed in web browser and presented to aproprietor for redemption, an e-mail with a unique redemption code, atext message, SMS/MMS, push notification or socket notification with aunique redemption code. Digital offers can be stored anywhere on a userdevice or can be downloaded or turned into physical offers by printing.Digital offers can be limited to a particular user, or a user may sharethe digital offer to other users. If a digital offer is shared, the sameoffer can be shared to multiple other users, or the digital offer can bemodified by the system when it is shared. Digital offers can also beassociated with a unique code that is stored in a database on a serverinternal or external to the system.

DIGITAL WALLET: A software-based system that securely stores users'information such as payment information, passwords, digitalcertificates, digital coupons, crypto currency, tokens, NFTs, digital IDsuch as a digital driver's license or passport, etc. A digital walletcan be a blockchain or crypto currency wallet. A digital wallet can bestored locally on any user device or can be cloud based and accessed bya user device. Digital wallet can also mean digital storage in generalon any user device or computer. Digital wallet can also be referred toas a mobile wallet.

DISTRIBUTED DATABASE SYSTEM: Any database that consists of two or morefiles located in different sites either on the same network or onentirely different networks.

DISTRIBUTED LEDGER: Any database that is consensually shared andsynchronized across multiple sites, institutions, or geographies,accessible by multiple people.

DATA SERVER OR SERVER: Any form of electronic device or plurality ofdevices having at least one computer processor, e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), and some form of computer memory having acapability to store data, as is well known in the art. The server maycomprise hardware, software, and firmware for receiving, storing, and/orprocessing data as described below. The hardware may be in a singleunit, or operably connected via a network. For example, a computer orserver may comprise any of a wide range of digital electronic devices,including, but not limited to, a server, a desktop computer, a laptop, asmart phone, a tablet, a smart watch, smart glasses, a wearable deviceor an implantable device or any form of electronic device capable offunctioning as described herein.

DYNAMIC ELEMENT: An element that is updated, altered, customized, etc.,in response to a change in the status of a metric, trigger, or any otherdatapoint as determined by the system. A nonlimiting example of adynamic element is the score of a game. If a goal is completed, then thescore is updated to reflect this change.

EVENT: Nonlimiting examples of an event include a professional, amateuror intermural sporting events (i.e., football, baseball, hockey,basketball, soccer, rugby or cricket game, tennis or golf match, trackand field or figure skating event or automobile race), a theatricalperformance (play, musical or opera), a musical concert, elementaryschool, middle school, high school, college or university event, aservice or ceremony (i.e., religious or worship), a tradeshow orconference, guided or self-guided tours (museums, galleries andhistorical site), time spent in a venue such as a visit to a zoo oramusement park, etc.

FAN PORTAL: A GUI, such as a homepage, displayed in the browser of auser device that provides links or access to other pages/modules viabuttons or other means of selecting options from a menu of choices. Thefan portal can also be used for viewing content and receiving digitaloffers.

INTERFACE SERVER: Within the system, a program, executable code, or APIstored on a physical server, cloud storage system or in a serverlessenvironment such as Amazon Web Services, which is capable ofcommunicating with other servers, databases, and API's internal orexternal to the system. The interface server is able to make and receivecalls, request and receive data, or execute other functions withinsystems. The interface server is also capable of running AI and/orutilizing machine learning.

GEOFENCE: A virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area or anarea in or around a venue.

GUI OR GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE: A graphical interface to enableinteractions between a user and the user's device, such as but notlimited to an interface to the web app.

JUMBO SCREEN: Any display within a venue visible to users attending anevent at a venue. The jumbo screen can be one display or multipledisplays within the venue that can be controlled by the venue. Jumboscreen may also be known as a jumbotron.

LOCATION: An area whose perimeter or parameters are defined in anabstract way without boundaries that are clearly visible to users orproprietors. Nonlimiting examples of a location include a town, city,state, country, region, continent, time zone, or geofenced area.

MACHINE-READABLE CODE (“MRC”): A barcode, a quick response (QR) code,near-field communication (NFC) code, radio-frequency identification(RFID) code, universal product code (UPC), machine readable graphics(e.g., having a pattern, matrix, or the like) coding, instructions codedon a chip, or combinations thereof. A MRC may be may be included into(i) a tag that is mounted to a surface, (ii) identification badges suchas, for example, student identification badges, employmentidentification badges, concert badges, and the like, (iii) merchandisesuch as t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, mugs, glasses, posters, CD's, andthe like, (iv) a piece of paper, cardstock, or plastic that is handed tousers, (v) a video stream viewed over the internet or network televisionchannel, (vi) an LCD/LED/e ink display device embedded, attached oraffixed to a surface.

MANIFEST: A file containing metadata for a group of accompanying filesthat are part of the system that instruct the user device how to handlethe system when it is started.

MINTING: Uniquely publishing a token on the blockchain to make itpurchasable, saleable, or tradeable.

NON-FUNGIBLE TOKEN (“NFT”): A non-interchangeable unit of data stored ona digital ledger, such as but not limited to blockchain, that can bepurchased, sold, auctioned, and traded. As used herein, NFT includes thecontract and subject matter associated with the NFT and can also meansemi-fungible token or fractional NFT. Nonlimiting examples of the smartcontracts that could govern a NFT include (i) 1/1 NFTs—known as ERC-721tokens on Ethereum and Polygon, KIP17 on the Klatyn blockchain; (ii)Semi-fungible NFTs—known as ERC-1155 tokens on Ethereum and Polygon,KIP37 on Klatyn.

NFT MARKETPLACE: A platform where NFTs can be stored, displayed, bought,sold, traded, auctioned and in some cases minted.

PROPRIETOR: Any person or entity who purchases, subscribes to, orotherwise uses the system and/or platform and who is not a user. AProprietor may or may not have administrative privileges to the system.Nonlimiting examples of proprietors include, venue owners, eventpromotors, teams, performers, theatre troupes, religious organizations,educational institutions (i.e., elementary school, middle school, highschool, college, university), restaurants, bars, retail establishments,amusement parks, museums, art galleries, advertisers, media outlets(i.e., network television, cable television, radio, internetbroadcasts), hospitals and health care systems, ticketing platforms,airlines, ride share services, etc.

PROPRIETOR PORTAL: An access point for a proprietor to enter the systemand/or platform typically displayed in a browser.

RECORD: Information that is stored in an electronic or other intangiblemedium without limitations on how the data is structured.

REDIRECT/IDENTIFICATION SERVER: The server within the system that makesa determination on if a user and/or user device that has entered thesystem is unique, by locating the manifest stored on a user device andif a manifest exists, associating the unique ID stored in the manifeston the user device with the database of known unique ID's stored on theredirect/identification server, or for confirming other data based onone or more requests to the redirect/identification server.

REDIRECT URL: An address generated by a server, such as theredirect/identification server or the interface server, in response toan incoming request that points the browser on a user device to adifferent target.

RESOURCE RECORD: A database record associated with a tag ID.

REQUEST: A message sent by one device to another (e.g., phone to server,server to server, computer to server, server to database, etc.) using anaddress to send the request. For example, upon selecting from theoptions available in the Web browser, the selection is coded into arequest that the Web browser sends to the server via an address. Therequest typically provides instructions to the server. Nonlimitingexamples of a request can be Get, Post, Put, Delete, Connect, Options.

RULE: A set of conditional statements that tells the system how to reactto a particular situation. Rules can be preprogramed into the system orcan be set or changed by an administrator or proprietor.

SYSTEM: The network, tags, platform, etc.

TAG: A physical (e.g., tangible) form, a digital (e.g.,virtual/intangible) form, or may be combinations of both forms thatcontains an MRC. Physical versions of tags may be constructed fromdiverse types of materials. The MRC may be printed, etched, orfabricated onto the tag materials such as paper, glass, plastic, metal,fabric, and the like as a few nonlimiting examples. In the case of tagsthat contain MRC's that are NFC or RFID, the tags may be adhered to,attached to, embedded in, or fabricated on (or combinations thereof) anatural or manmade material such as metal (e.g., aluminum, stainlesssteel), wood, polymer (e.g., plastic), film, glass, and combinationsthereof. The material may then be incorporated into or affixed (e.g.,adhesive or other form of attachment) to an object or location. A tagmay be printed on a single or multiple use badge or ticket. Digital tagsmay include LED/LCD screens or a designated location within a videostream in which the MRC is located.

TAG ID: A unique identifier for the MRC affixed to the tag. The uniqueidentifier can be any combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Thetag ID is stored in a database on a server and is coded with informationspecific to the location of the tag. For example, the tag ID mightgenerally identify the geographic location of the tag (i.e., the UnitedStates, Pennsylvania and/or Philadelphia), the general venue location ofthe tag (i.e., Fenway Park, Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, TheNatural History Museum), the specific location of the tag within thevenue (i.e., Section A, Row 1, Seat 10, next to Van Gogh's “StarryNight”), or any combination of information.

TAG URL: A unique address assigned to the MRC on each tag that mayoptionally include the tag ID.

TARGET: A Web page, file, address, GUI, web app, progressive web app,portal, content, or digital offer delivered to a user device. Thoseskilled in the art may also refer to a target as an endpoint.

TARGET DETERMINATION PROCESS: The process described in FIG. 5 .

TARGET ID: A unique identifier for the Target. The unique identifier canbe any combination of letters, numbers and/or symbols that can be storedin a database, on a server, and/or both. The target ID allows theplatform to distinguish one target from another.

TICKETING PLATFORM: Both the primary ticketing platform and thesecondary ticketing platform.

TRIGGER: The magnitude or condition that must be reached for a certainresult to materialize. Triggers can be determined either by the system,an administrator, or a proprietor. Nonlimiting examples of a trigger canbe the start or end of an event, something of significance that occursduring the event (i.e., the tenth goal scored, the first encore by amusical act), a single user completing a certain task, or n number ofusers completing a task.

TOKEN: A digital asset that is stored securely on the blockchain,representing a tradeable asset.

TOOLS: Cookies, pixels, widgets, plug-ins, etc.

UNIQUE ID: A unique identifier for the user device. The uniqueidentifier can be any combination of letters, numbers and/or symbols,cookies, digital credentials, or it can be a digital certificate such asTLS, SSL, code signing certificate, client certificate, etc. . . . . Theunique ID can be stored on the user device in any location on the userdevice such as the manifest, local storage, or digital wallet, in adatabase on a server, and/or both, and is used to associate the userdevice with the unique user record stored in a database on a server inthe system.

UNIQUE IDENTIFYING INFORMATION: Personal information and demographicscollected about a particular user's such as name, address, phone number,e-mail address, credit card information, gender, marital status,academic affiliation (student, faculty, alumni), driver's licensenumber, age, username, password, pin number, social security number,bank account number, salary, etc.

USER DEVICE: Any type of mobile processing device such as a handheldcomputer (e.g., phone, smartphone, tablet, personal digital assistant),wearable computer (e.g., smart watch, smart glasses), portable computers(e.g., laptop, netbooks, Chromebook), or wearable or implantable device,and the like using wireless communication, a camera or otherconnectivity element.

USER DEVICE RECORD: A record stored within a database on a server thatcontains the unique ID and unique identifying information associatedwith that unique ID for each user that accesses the system. The userdevice record can contain an unlimited amount of information about theuser device and presumably the user who owns the user device such as,but not limited to a history of events attended, digital offers used,gambling wagers made, NFTs minted or purchased, venues or locationsvisited, concession or merchandise purchases, donations made, incidentreports, tags scanned, other actions taken, etc.

VENUE: Any physical location with defined perimeters and parameters suchas a stadium, arena, court, track, concert hall, theatre, course,museum, restaurant, place of worship (church, synagogue, temple, mosque,etc.), historical site, cultural site, amusement park, zoo, aquarium,conference center or any other place where events are held, or usersgather. Venues can also be hotel rooms, cruise ships, trains, airplanes,schools (elementary, middle, or high school) or a college campus ordorm.

WEB APP: Executable code that is stored on a remote server and deliveredvia the system or a network to a browser interface on a user device. Theweb app may facilitate communication between the user device and one ormore servers such as the redirect/identification server or the interfaceserver.

When people attend an event, they look to the program to give theminformation about the event. For example, a program for a service (e.g.,memorial service) or ceremony (e.g., graduation) may list an order forthe service or ceremony, provide details relating to speakers or thetopic about which they are speaking, and other information as is typicalfor the occasion. Similarly, a program for a cultural event/artisticperformance, such as a ballet, typically lists the acts and the storybeing told during the act, has dancer bios and maybe photos, lists thenames of conductor and orchestra members by instrument, lists patronsand the level of patronage, among other information. And of course, aprogram for a sporting event, such as a football game, can be quiteextensive especially if it is a “souvenir program,” having full colorphotographs and descriptive information relating to players, a map ofthe stadium, a list of upcoming games and/or events to be held at thestadium, and an abundance of advertising. Thus, event programs can varydramatically in size, formatting, information included, etc., dependingon the event and/or venue. Nevertheless, event programs are typicallyall the same for a given event (unless, for example, a souvenir optionis available) and only provide a static one-way communique from aproprietor (e.g., owner/organizer of a company, team, venue, event,etc.,) and advertisers to event attendees.

Embodiments of the present invention, however, expand the interactionbetween proprietors and users (e.g., those who are interested in theevent, venue, and the like) via an interactive and dynamic event program(DEP). For example, event users (e.g., at the event/venue) and remoteusers (e.g., not at the event/venue) may both access an interactive DEPover a network such as the Internet, but the interactive DEP accessed byevent users and remote users are not necessarily the same. In fact, theyare most likely different. As one nonlimiting example, an interactiveDEP accessed by an event user may have a feature that enables orderingand paying for food from an in-venue concession, which may also deliverthe food to the event user's seat. This feature is not helpful to aremote user; thus, the interactive DEP accessed by the remote user willnot allow in-venue purchases. But the remote version of the interactiveDEP may include a feature that enables ordering, paying for, anddelivery of food from an establishment that delivers in the remoteuser's geographical location. Nevertheless, interactive DEP versionsaccessed by event users and remote users may have many common features.For example, certain interactive DEP features may include dynamiccontent such videos, images, graphics, data, and audio, to name a fewexamples, which may be captured/updated as the event progresses. Momentsafter being captured/updated, the dynamic content may be made availableto both event users and remote users via respective interactive DEPs. Asone nonlimiting example, moments after occurring live, a video replaymay be available to both event users and remote users via respectiveinteractive DEPs. Although replays may be shown at the venue andelsewhere, a replay via the interactive DEP may be controlled by theuser. And there may be other features available in the interactive DEPto enhance the replay.

Due to the interactive and dynamic nature of embodiments of the presentinvention, users may make multiple and/or new impressions, which may, inturn, benefit proprietors, advertisers, and the like. Furthermore, usersget the most up-to-date information as the users are enjoying the DEPand not static content that may be outdated by the time the userreceives a traditional event program. And, since embodiments of theevent program of the present invention are digital, paper is not wasted.Thus, users of the interactive dynamic event program may continue theirjourney and expand on their interaction with the event/venue byreceiving new content as the event takes place. Furthermore, the dynamicnature of the event program enables advertisers/sponsors to seekopportunities that they may not otherwise enjoy. These features, amongothers, are described in the following detailed description, whichdetails various nonlimiting examples of embodiments of the presentinvention.

Many distinct types of events/venues no matter the size can utilize anembodiment of the invention to enhance user experiences. An eventgenerally refers to the reason people convene, whether it be at the sameplace/time, or at separate places but at the same general time or evenat different times altogether. Certain events can have an abundance ofactivity such as sporting events, rock concerts, trade shows, livestockshows, comic conferences, the circus, and the like. Other events,however, may require a certain amount of decorum, such ascultural/artistic performances, ceremonies, services, and the like. Asused herein, an event may also include going to a location ofsignificance such as a historic building, a museum, a zoo, and the like.Events can be indoor, outdoor, or both.

Generally, a venue is where the event takes place. For example, typicalvenues for sporting events include, without limitation, stadiums,arenas, gyms, rinks, grandstands, and the like. Similarly, venues forperforming arts can include amphitheaters, concert halls, theaters,pavilions, and the like. Conferences may take place at conferencecenters, whereas community events may take place at community centers,tents, places of worship, and the like. In the case of locations ofsignificance, the venue and the event may be one in the same, althoughembodiments are not so limited.

In an embodiment, the interactive DEP that the user interacts with maybe in a “book-like” format that users are familiar with such as digital“flip book.” This type of format may be useful for artistic performancesand ceremonies as they emulate a traditional paper program. As with apaper program, the interactive DEP may have a cover page with the nameof event and cover art. Using a ballet as an example, the pages afterthe cover page may include a breakdown of the story being told (e.g., bythe act); bios, pictures, and videos of the dancers, the choreographer,the conductor, orchestra members; listing of patrons and levels ofpatronage, listings of upcoming events, advertisements, and the like.Interactive features found in the ballet's DEP may include being able toselect and pay for merchandise, tickets for upcoming events, food and/ordrinks, patronage donations, as a few nonlimiting examples. Dynamicfeatures that may be available in a ballet's DEP may include videos andvideo replays of performance highlights with or without augmentedreality capabilities. In a certain embodiment, the proprietor may havethe capability to enable the interactive DEP only when the performersare not preforming such as before, during, and after the performance.Embodiments, however, are not limited to the forgoing description.

An event such as a graduation ceremony may also use a “book-like” formatfor an interactive DEP. In addition to the traditional informationincluded in a graduation program, an interactive DEP page a list of allgraduating students with each student's name containing a link to a pagededicated to that student. A student's dedicated page having images,videos, accomplishments, future plans, links to the student's picturesin the yearbook, and the like. Furthermore, each student's dedicatedpage may include a video clip of the student as he or she crosses thestage, which is available for replay, with or without additionalaugmentation. In a certain embodiment, a user, such as a parent, may beable to create a static or subject matter associated with a nonfungibletoken (NFT) document from the dedicated page for their student tocommemorate the event. Embodiments, however, are not limited to theforgoing description.

A trip to the zoo or the like may utilize a fresh style of DEPaltogether. Another nonlimiting example of a possible interactive DEPformat is a “tabbed” interactive DEP that can easily take the user tothe information in which the user is interested. In this case, each tabmay bring the user to information about a different exhibit and/oranimal in the exhibit. The tabbed page may include video, images, andsnippets of information about the exhibit/animals. This way, all userscan access information about the exhibit/animals without having to crowdaround a small sign that is difficult to read. Furthermore, video onexhibit/animal page may include footage of a live experience such as afeeding, meet the trainer, or other live presentation. Thus, if the useris in a different area of the zoo at the time of the experience, theuser can still enjoy the experience. Even if the user is at the exhibitduring the experience the user may want to watch via the interactive DEPas crowding may make it difficult to get a good in-person view. The zoointeractive DEP may also include features such as ordering and payingfor food, drinks, merchandise, and the like right from the interactiveDEP. Embodiments, however, are not limited to the forgoing description.

A sports event, such as a football game may utilize another, differentformat for its interactive DEP. Referring to FIG. 2 , a fan portal (218)or similar format may be the interactive DEP for a football game; thefan portal (218) having selectable options (220) that link to variousfeatures or modules such as concessions, merchandise, donations, aroster, statistics, a stadium map, and a schedule, as a few nonlimitingexamples. Dynamic content in an interactive DEP for a football game mayinclude replays, statistics updates, an interactive map to guide you towhere you want to go, and images to name a few nonlimiting examples.Alternatively, the fan portal (218) may have a selectable option (220)for a book-like, tabbed, or similarly formatted interactive DEP. In thiscase, the fan portal (218) may include cursory information relating toplayers and the like, and the interactive DEP may have detailedinformation about players, the team, etc. Thus, there may be a certainamount of cross over between the fan portal (218) and the interactiveDEP. This may be intentional to allow users to access interactivefeatures, dynamic content, or both through either the fan portal (218)or the interactive DEP, whichever is easier for the user. Embodiments,however, are not limited to the forgoing description.

The forgoing examples detail just a few of the possible format, content,and feature/module variations that may be available to a proprietor whencontemplating an interactive DEP. Further variations are described morefully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, whichform a part hereof and which show, by way of illustration, specificexemplary embodiments by which the innovations may be practiced. Theembodiments may, however, be implemented in many different forms andshould not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein;rather, these examples are provided so that this disclosure will bethorough and complete, and will convey the broad scope of theembodiments to those skilled in the art. Among other things, variousembodiments may be methods, systems, media, devices, or any similar orequivalent arrangements known to those skilled in the art. Accordingly,the various embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardwareembodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combiningsoftware and hardware aspects. The following detailed description is,therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

A high-level overview of an exemplary system (10) is shown in FIG. 1 .The system (10) may include an administrator device (12), a platform(20), a user device (14 a) associated with an event user (e.g.,physically at the event/in the venue), a user device (14 b) associatedwith a remote user (e.g., not necessarily at the event/in the venue), aplurality of tags (16 a, 16 b) and one or more networks (18). Generally,each user device (14 a, 14 b) may be used to scan, read, or otherwisedetect (collectively “scan”) machine-readable code (“MRC”) (17 a, 17 b)associated with a respective tag (16 a, 16 b). The act of scanning a tag(16 a, 16 b)/MRC (17 a, 17 b) initiates communications between the userdevice (14 a, 14 b) that scanned the tag (16 a, 16 b) and the platform(20), which may result in the rendering of the interactive DEP by a Webbrowser and/or other application running on the user device (14 a, 14b). Communications between user devices (14 a, 14 b) and platform (20)is typically via one or more networks (18), which may include, withoutlimitation, the Internet, mobile networks, cloud-based platforms, orcombinations thereof.

A proprietor may use a network of encoded tags (16 a, 16 b) to identifypoints of interest (e.g., locations, objects, people, etc.). The numberof tags (16 a, 16 b) in the network and placement of tags on, in, ornear points of interest is at the discretion of the proprietor to fitits particular assets and needs. Further, a proprietor may add to orsubtract from the number of tags (16 a, 16 b) in the network at will.Thus, the number of tags (16 a, 16 b) in a proprietor's network may bedynamic, either more or less than an original network of tags. Each tag(16 a, 16 b) in the network of tags has a unique identifier (tag ID),which may be used to identify a particular point of interest. Forexample, a tag (16 a, 16 b) may be situated on or near a seat in astadium, and the user who purchased a ticket to sit in that seat is the“limited owner” or renter of that seat for a particular event. Incertain embodiments, it may be possible to have multiple copies of thesame tag, each with the same tag ID, in locations where multiple scanswould be desirable at the same time by multiple users. Thus, at theentrance to a stadium, a plurality of tags could be located at differententrance points, each having the same tag ID.

As is implied in FIG. 1 , a certain number of tags (16 a) may be presentat the venue (“in-venue tag”), and additional one or more tags (16 b)may be remote from the venue (“remote tag”) where the MRC (17 b) isdisplayed in/on a video transmission, signal, or the like, or on a Webpage associated with the event, venue, and/or television network, as afew nonlimiting examples. Of course, there is the possibility that auser at the event/in the venue scans the remote tag (16 b) with his/heruser device (14 a). Each user device (14 a, 14 b) may also include, ormay eventually include, a unique identifier (22 a, 22 b) to uniquelyidentify the user device (14 a, 14 b) and a digital wallet (24 a, 24 b)to securely store sensitive information such as a driver's licenses,account information (e.g., banks, crypto currencies, credit cards),titles, tokens, tickets, vouchers, coupons, other digital file (301 a,301 b), and the like.

The proprietor may also access platform (20), albeit via theadministrator device (12) and the one or more networks (18). Theadministrator device (12) may be located at the venue, or it may be at alocation remote from the venue. Generally, the proprietor may access aproprietor portal (FIG. 3 at [322]) hosted by platform (20) to performadministrative and/or other activities such as determining what content(or other) will be sent to the user device (14 a, 14 b) in response toscanning a tag (16 a, 16 b).

In addition to hosting the proprietor portal, platform (20) may host avariety of other services including, without limitation, event user andremote user access to content associated with the event, venue,proprietor, and the like. As such, platform (20) may include, or mayinclude access to, one or more servers, databases, applicationprogramming interfaces (APIs), artificial intelligence/machine learningalgorithms, other algorithms, code, blockchains, blockchain platforms,geofences, third party integrations, timestamp, and more, which isdetailed below, with reference to accompanying figures.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary venue (202), which includes a portion ofsystem (10) shown in FIG. 1 . In this case, the venue (202) is afootball stadium including a jumbo screen (204), recording devices (206a, 206 b, 206 c, 206 d), seats (208), and a plurality of tags such astag (16 a). Although a stadium is shown, the venue (202) can be anyvenue: small, large, indoor, outdoor, permanent, temporary, onestructure, several structures, an entire city, and variations thereof.Thus, a venue (202) can be any area or space occupied by or intended forsomething, and as such associated amenities and accoutrements maydrastically vary from venue to venue. In this example, the stadium hasjumbo screen (204), which may display a wide variety of video content asis customary for a football game, though such display screen is notnecessary for functionality of the system. The stadium also includesoptional recording devices (206 a, 206 b, 206 c, 206 d) such as videocameras for recording the football game and other activity, which isalso customary for this type of venue (202). Likewise, an event may beany event including sporting events, artistic performances, trade shows,conferences, ceremonies, services, self-guided tours (e.g., at museums,historic sites), and zoos as a few nonlimiting examples. Notably,museums, historic sites, zoos, and similar examples may be both thevenue and the event or house the event.

In the example of FIG. 2 , each seat (208) has a seatback (210) with atag (e.g., 16 a) disposed thereon. In this way, event users can easilysee a tag (e.g., 16 a) directly in front of them while they are sittingin their seats (208). Thus, the tag (e.g., 16 a) that the event usersees is associated with the seat (208) in which the user is sitting. Tagassociation with a particular seat (208) is desirable in embodimentsthat take advantage of knowing the event user's seat location such asfor food or merchandise delivery directly to the seat (208), asnonlimiting examples. In-venue tags (e.g., 16 a), however, are notlimited to being positioned on seatbacks (210); they may be placed in awide variety of locations within a venue (202). For example, if in-venuetags (16 a) are associated with particular seats (208), they may beplaced in any other location on or near the associated seat (208) suchas an arm rest, a cup holder, on the seat (208) next to the event user'sleg, on the ground, or on a structure near the seat (208) such as awall, a pillar, or the like. It should be noted that in-venue tags (16a) may be associated with other points of interest, and thus may beplaced at or near the points of interest such as entrances, levels,sections, isles, loge seats, individual people (e.g., with a taggedbadge, tagged ticket, or the like), restrooms, various additionalpossibilities, or combinations thereof. Therefore, while one example ofin-venue tag (16 a) placement is illustrated in FIG. 2 , in-venue tag(16 a) placement should be broadly construed to include any placementsuitable for use as described herein. Tags (16 a) may be associated withone or more groupings, for example, by a section, (222, 224, or 226),wherein grouping of tags (16 a) may provide certain benefits in thevarious embodiments detailed herein. Alternative placement schemes thatmay be devised by one skilled in the art, consistent with the teachingsof the present invention, should be considered within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

As was mentioned with respect to FIG. 1 , each tag (16 a, 16 b) in thesystem (10) has a machine-readable code (17 a, 17 b) associatedtherewith. The term machine-readable code (“MRC”) as used herein shouldbe broadly construed to include “graphics” type codes such as quickresponse (QR) codes, universal product code (UPC), snapcodes, and/or anyother type of machine-readable graphics (e.g., having a pattern, matrix,or the like) coding known in the art or later developed. Importantly, asused herein, the term machine-readable code/MRC should also be construedto include “chip” technologies that store data on a chip such as,without limitation, near-field communication (NFC) and radio-frequencyidentification (RFID) technologies, as is known in the art or is laterdeveloped. Thus, MRC can be read, scanned, detected, or otherwisedecoded (collectively, “scanned”) by an appropriately enabled (e.g.,camera, QR scanner, and/or NFC reader [212]) user device (14 a, 14 b).

In-venue tags (16 a) may be physical (e.g., tangible), digital (e.g.,virtual/intangible), or combinations of both forms. Physical tags may beconstructed from diverse types of materials. In the case of tags havingone or more graphical/matrix type codes such as QR codes, barcodes, andthe like, the code may be printed, etched, fabricated, or the like onmaterials such as paper, glass, plastic, metal, fabric, and the like, asa few nonlimiting examples. In the case of NFC/RFID enabled tags,chips/antennae may be adhered to, attached to, embedded in, orfabricated on (or combinations thereof) a natural or manufacturedmaterial such as metal (e.g., aluminum, stainless steel), semiconductor,wood, polymer (e.g., plastic), film, glass, and combinations thereof,without limitation. The material may be incorporated into or affixed(e.g., adhesive, or other form of attachment) where desired. Digitaltags may be displayed on a screen or communicated via radio waves. Inthe case of QR codes, barcodes, and the like, the graphical code may bedisplayed on a display screen such as the jumbo screen (204) or adisplay screen associated with the event user's seat (208), otherlocations/point of interest, or combinations thereof. Thus, the in-venuetag (16 a) may be a video display, such as LCD, LED, e-ink, or othervisual display and/or text accompanying the MRC (17 a). In fact, most,if not all, remote tags (16 b) will be a display screen such as on atelevision screen, computer screen, appliance screen, and the like,having the MRC (e.g., 17 b) displayed thereon, or text on the displayscreen identifying the MRC (17 b), although embodiments are not limitedthereto.

Information encoded on or in each tag in the system (10) may include anaddress to direct a request (e.g., for an interactive DEP) from the userdevice (14 a, 14 b) to a server or the like on the network (18) such asa server on platform (20). The address may be in the form of a uniformresource identifier (URI) such as a uniform resource locator (URL),according to a nonlimiting embodiment. In this way, when the user scansthe tag (16 a, 16 b) with the user device (14 a, 14 b), the user device(14 a, 14 b) sends a request to the appropriate network (18) location.In the example shown in FIG. 3 , when the event user uses his/her userdevice (14 a) to scan tag (16 a), the event user device (14 a) obtainsan address from the MRC (17 a) associated with the scanned tag (16 a)and sends a request via the network (18) to the address destination. Asone example, the address is a URL that causes the event user device (14a) to send a request to a redirect/identification server (302), onplatform (20), which receives the request. Similarly, when the remoteuser uses his/her user device (14 b) to scan the MRC (17 b) on a screen(304), a similar URL is obtained which causes the request from theremote user device (14 b) to be sent to the redirect/identificationserver (302), which receives the request.

In a typical embodiment, each tag (16 a, 16 b) in the plurality has aunique tag identification number (i.e., “tag ID”), which may be appendedto the URI/URL, although embodiments are not so limited. The tag ID maybe used by the platform (20) for several reasons, one of which is toidentify a point of interest associated with the tag (14 a, 14 b) via atag ID lookup. For example, when a request comes from the event userdevice (14 a), the platform (20) knows that the request came from withinthe venue (202) and is associated with the seat (208) in which the eventuser is sitting. And when the request comes from the remote user device(14 b), the platform (20) knows that the request is in response toscanning a tag (e.g., 16 b/MRC 17 b) in transmission, on a Web page, orthe like, and the platform (20) knows which transmission/Web page isassociated with the scanned tag (16 b). In an embodiment, the tag ID maybe appended to the URL (or URI) such as by one or more parameters,pattern matching techniques, or other such mechanism for encodinginformation in a URI, URL and/or browser request.

FIG. 3 details an exemplary infrastructure that may be used by platform(20) although infrastructures are not limited thereto. Thisinfrastructure may include the redirect/identification server (302), aninterface server (306), a database (308), an administration server(310), an analytics server (312), a blockchain, access to a blockchain,or both (314), a geofence (316) a timestamp (318), one or more thirdparty integrations (320), the proprietor portal (322), and a socketserver (324). Generally, user device (14 a, 14 b) communicates with theplatform (20) via redirect/identification server (302) as was previouslydescribed. Redirect/identification server (302), accept requests fromuser devices (14 a, 14 b), sends responses to user devices (14 a, 14 b),and performs various other methods as described herein. As onenonlimiting example, the redirect/identification server (302) mayforward information (e.g., URLs, parameters, etc.,) from user device (14a, 14 b) requests to the interface server (306). The interface server(306) manages most, if not all tasks involved with processing requests,such as handing off/directing tasks, functions, calls, and the likewhere needed. The interface server (306) may also return requestresponses to the redirect/identification server (302). If a request camefrom a user device (14 a or 14 b), then the redirect/identificationserver (302) forwards the response to the requesting user device (14 aor 14 b). Examples of tasks, functions, calls, and the like that theinterface server (306) may hand off include, without limitation,database (308)/blockchain storage, lookups, etc., administrative andbackend tasks/functions to the administration server (310), analyticaltasks/functions to the analytics server (312), geolocationtasks/functions (316), time/timestamps (318), API calls to third partyservers for third party integrations (320) and establishing socketconnections via socket server (324).

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 together and using the request from eventuser device (16 a) as an example, a method (400) may begin with theredirect/identification server (302) receiving the request (step 402)from the event user device (14 a). From there, theredirect/identification server (302) may check to see if the event userdevice (14 a) has a manifest (containing the unique ID, or just theunique ID alone) loaded thereon (step 404). If no, theredirect/identification server (302) may obtain a manifest and assign aunique ID (e.g., from database [308]) for the event user device (14 a,step 406). The manifest includes a unique ID to identify the event userdevice (14 a) with an identifier that is not shared with any other userdevice (e.g., 14 b). The redirect/identification server (302) will alsocause the unique ID for the event user device (14 a) to be stored in adatabase such, as database (308), as is appropriate for the databasemanagement system (step 406).

As used herein, the term “record” refers to information that is storedin an electronic or other intangible medium without limitations on howthe data is structured. A record may include and/or point to relateddata. For example, a record for a unique ID may include the unique IDand any other data related thereto, which may be stored in database(308) or other appropriate data storage. The record may be the userdevice record. After obtaining the manifest and/or the unique ID, theredirect/identification server (302) may then send the manifest togetherwith the unique ID to the event user device (14 a, step 408), which maybe maintained on the event user device (14 a) in a digital wallet, othersecure repository, or both. At step (410), the redirect/identificationserver (302) may maintain a copy of the unique ID for further use in themethod (400), other methods described herein, or both. If the event userdevice (14 a) already has a manifest (step 404, yes), theredirect/identification server (302) obtains the unique ID from themanifest (step 410). In an embodiment, the redirect/identificationserver (302) may also obtain data such as current time, date, location,etc. from the event user device (14 a), manifest, request, orcombinations thereof at step (410).

In an embodiment, the redirect/identification server (302) may passinformation needed to further method (400). For example, the tag ID maybe passed to the interface server (306) for a tag ID lookup (step 412),such as in database (308), the administration server (310) and/or anyother suitable database or server. In this instance, theredirect/identification server (302) obtained the tag ID from therequest made by the event user device (14 a). In an embodiment, the tagID is appended to the URL, and thus the entire URL, or a portionthereof, may be passed to the interface server (306) for use in lookingup the tag ID. Looking up the tag ID provides information about thevenue (202) and/or event. To clarify, when a particular venue (202)installs tags (16 a) and/or uses tags (16 b), the tag IDs for theinstalled/used tags (16 a, 16 b) are associated with the point ofinterest and the particular venue (202). Thus, if a tag is installedproximate seat 1, row A, section 100, database (308) informationassociates the installed tag's (16 a) tag ID and that particular seat(208), which is in that particular venue (202). Since the tag ID isknown to belong to a particular venue (202), the interface server (306),the administration server (310) via the interface server (306), anyother suitable server, or combinations thereof makes a series ofdeterminations using the tag ID, which was received in response to arequest from a user device (14 a, 14 b) prompted by scanning the tag (16a, 16 b). One determination is if the venue (202) is activelyimplementing platform (20) services (step 414). For example, the venue(202) may have tags (16 a) installed but it is no longer using the tags(16 a), or it is not using the tags for a particular event. If not, theevent user device (14 a) is redirected to a global default target (step416) that may inform the event user that the services are no longeravailable, are temporarily out of service, or the like. If the venue(202) is actively implementing platform (20) services, the method (400)may make another determination. At step (418), the method (400) maydetermine if a particular event is currently (or soon to be) inprogress, or recently ended.

In an embodiment, an event may be determined to be in progress based onthe time that the event is scheduled to begin. Since many venues (202)open before the actual event begins, and close after the actual eventends, the window set for an event to be in progress may encompass agiven amount of time before and after the actual activity begins/ends.In an embodiment, the time that the “event in progress” determination ismade (step 418) may be recorded to serve as a timestamp to approximatethe time that the event user device (14 a) scanned the tag (16 a). Inother words, the unique ID, tag ID, and time determination may berecorded for later use, in certain embodiments. If the event is not inprogress, the event user device (14 a) may be redirected to a venuedefault target (step 420) such as a Web page for the venue, or anotherWeb page such as a page to identify that an incident has occurred at thevenue (202) at the point of interest in which the tag (16 a) wasscanned. Incidents may encompass any sort of incident such as a need forsomething to be cleaned up to calling emergency services.

If the event is in progress, the method (400) may also determine if thetag ID belongs to a grouping of tag IDs (step 422). Tags (16 a, 16 b)may be grouped for many reasons and in many different ways including aparticular tag (e.g., 16 a, 16 b) being in a group of just that tag (16a or 16 b). And even if grouped, individual tags (16 a, 16 b) retaintheir uniqueness. Tags (16 a, 16 b) may also belong to more than onegroup. As one nonlimiting example, in the stadium of FIG. 2 , the tags(16 a) may be grouped by seating type or section (e.g., 222, 224, or226), e.g., VIP seats may belong to one group, loge seats to anothergroup, and discount/student seats may belong to yet another group. Ifdata associated with the tag ID indicates that the tag belongs to agroup, the event user device (14 a) may be redirected to a version ofthe interactive DEP for the particular group. For instance, theinteractive DEP for users sitting in VIP or loge seats may includepremium content, offers, and the like, whereas the version of theinteractive DEP for users sitting in discount/student seats may havecontent and features that typically appeal to students, recentgraduates, or the like. Thus, the method (400) obtains the informationit needs to enable redirection to the determined version of theinteractive DEP (step 426) for the group. If data associated with thetag ID indicates that the tag does not belong to a specific group, theevent user device (14 a) may be redirected to a default interactive DEPfor the event. Thus, the method (400) obtains the information it needsto enable the redirection (step 424) to the default interactive DEP. Inan embodiment, the information needed for redirection may include a URLfor the interactive DEP with parameters, values, patterns, or the likeappended thereto such as a DEP ID to identify the version of theinteractive DEP and the tag ID, although embodiments are not limitedthereto.

Method (400) may simultaneously process other data such as looking upone or more records associated with the unique ID (step 428). Inembodiments, the platform (20) may gather information relating to useractivities via the user device (14 a, 14 b) and unique ID. For example,the platform (20) may gather data relating to tags (16 a, 16 b) that theuser has scanned in the past (across a variety of different events,venues, or the like) and activities associated with those tag scans(e.g., purchases made, content looked at, coupons downloaded), althoughembodiments are not limited thereto. This data may be stored inassociation with the unique ID assigned to the event user (or other)device (14 a). Thereafter, a controller may associate the unique ID, itsrecord, its record location or the like with the tag ID, DEP ID, a URL,any other determined information, or combinations thereof (step 430).The event user device (14 a) may then be redirected to the appropriateversion of the interactive DEP that has been determined for the eventuser device (14 a).

When a request comes from a remote user device (14 b), the method (400)starts out essentially the same as with the event user device (14 a).That is, the redirect/identification server (302) receives the request(step 402), checks for a manifest containing a unique ID (step 404),assigns a manifest with a unique ID if one has not yet been assigned(step 406), and sends it to the remote user device (14 b, step 408) forsecure storage thereon. If the remote user device (14 b) has a manifest,then the redirect/identification server (302) obtains it (and otherinformation such as a unique ID) from the remote user device (14 b).Either way, the redirect/identification server (302) has the informationthat it needs such as unique ID, URL, tag ID, and the like, and forwardsthe information to the interface server (306) to continue the method(400). The interface server (306) may then look up, or cause to look up,the record associated with the unique ID (step 428) assigned to theremote user device (14 b). At the same time, the interface server (306)may cause a determination to be as to whether the venue exists (step414). In this case the interface server (306), or other server, may lookat the data associated with the tag ID to determine from where the tag(16 b) that was scanned originated. For example, the MRC (17 b) may haveoriginated from a particular signal, transmission, etc., (e.g., network,regional network, etc.), Web site (e.g., for the venue, a streamingservice, etc.) or the like. If, the method (400) determines that thevenue does not exist, for example, if the tag is to an unrelatedelement, then the remote user device (14 b) is redirected to thatunrelated element or to a global default target (step 416), for exampleif the tag is related. Assuming that the venue in this case does exist,the interface server (306)/method (400), then determines whether theevent is in progress (step 418). If the signal, transmission, Web page,or the like is transmitting an event as it is occurring in real timethen the event is in progress. Such can also be determined by atimestamp or time record set within the system. Either way, in anembodiment, the time the determination is made may be recorded by theplatform (20). If the event is not occurring in real time (e.g., theuser is watching a recording after the fact), then the remote userdevice (14 b) will be redirected to an appropriate target such as a Webpage relating to the event (step 420). However, the proprietor can setany time parameter to define “real time.” For example, a proprietor maydesire to allow recordings watched within N number of days of a liveevent to constitute real time. The interface server (306) may thendetermine if the tag (16 b), via the tag ID belongs to a group (step422). For instance, different tags (16 b) may be associated withdifferent signals, transmissions, Web sites, or the like. Even so, thesetags (16 b) may be a subset within the group based on predeterminedcriteria such as being within a geofence (316). Thus, if the tag (16 b)belongs to a group, or a subgroup, the remote user device (14 a) will beredirected to the interactive DEP for the appropriate group/subgroup,and if not, the remote user device (14 a) will be redirected to thedefault interactive DEP. The default interactive DEP for remote usersmay or may not be the same as the default for event users. Either way,the information relating to the determined version of the interactiveDEP is obtained (steps 424, 426). At step (430), a controller mayassociate the unique ID, the record for the unique ID, a pointer to therecord for the unique ID, the tag ID, and interactive DEP informationsuch as a URL, DEP ID, or both. Thereafter, the remote user device (14b) is redirected to the appropriate version of the interactive DEP (step432), as was described with respect to the event user. In certainembodiments, the step of (428) may be provided in parallel to orconcurrent with the lookup of the tag ID (step 412), where the unique IDis necessary for determining any of the other elements. Furthermore, theunique ID may be stored, for example in local memory or cache, which isreadily accessible or known to the system after step (410).

In an embodiment, the user device (14 a, 14 b) may receive a redirectURL from the redirect/identification server (302) at the end of method(400) to redirect the user device (14 a, 14 b) to the appropriateversion of the interactive DEP. For instance, the method (400) mayreturn a DEP ID to identify the particular version of the interactiveDEP. The DEP ID, tag ID, unique ID (and/or information associatedtherewith), or combinations thereof may be appended to the redirect URLfor the interactive DEP, which is sent to the requesting user device (14a, 14 b). The requesting user device (14 a, 14 b) then uses the redirectURL to send a new request, this time for the interactive DEP, which isreceived by the redirect/identification server (302) and is forwarded tothe interface server (306) for processing. Alternatively, the DEP ID,tag ID, and unique ID may be used by the platform (20) without sending aredirect URL to the requesting device at the end of method (400).Regardless of the forgoing, the requesting user device (14 a and/or 14b) receives the interactive DEP associated with the redirection whateverversion of the interactive DEP that may be. In an embodiment, theinteractive DEP may be an application delivered by way of one or moreWeb pages, files, data, information, or combinations thereof. As onenonlimiting example, the fan portal (218) may be a version of theinteractive DEP identified by the DEP ID, and it may include applicationcode “wrapped” or embedded in in an HTML document. Application codeincludes, but is not limited to, Web application code, progressive Webapplication code, cloud-based application code, native application code,native mobile application code, other such code, or combinationsthereof. The HTML document (and cascading style sheet, etc.) generallydetermines the layout of what the user sees as is known in the art.

Furthermore, interactive DEPs are not necessarily always the same oreven the same result of redirection. In fact, the same tag (e.g., 16 a)may cause a user device (e.g., 14 a) to be redirected to distinctinteractive DEPs or other targets of redirection depending upon when theparticular tag (16 a) is scanned. For example, a venue (202) hosts manyevents over the course of a season, year, decade, etc. Each event mayhave its own interactive DEP as the individual events are distinct. Forexample, the fan portal (218) may be the interactive DEP for a game inprogress, such as the football game shown in FIG. 2 . The game inprogress is between team A and team B. The next game (or other event)hosted at the venue (202) may be a soccer game; thus, the fan portal(218) for the soccer game is different from the fan portal (218) for thefootball game. In other words, the two fan portals (218) are distincttargets for redirection. Coordinating an interactive DEP (or othertarget) with a particular tag (16 a) may be achieved by assigning adistinct DEP ID (e.g., target ID), so that the user device (14 a) isredirected to the football fan portal (218) during the football game andthe same user device (14 a) can be redirected to the soccer fan portal(218) during the soccer game even though the exact same tag (16 a) isscanned by the exact same user device (14 a). Of course, this is onenonlimiting example. A proprietor may use a single tag (16 a) toredirect a user device (14 a, 14 b) to any desired target including aversion of an interactive DEP. Thus, the target to which the user device(14 a) is redirected may be changed from game-to-game.

A proprietor may also change a target during the course of a particularevent. For example, referring again to the fan portal (218) shown inFIG. 2 , the user may use the fan portal (218) to partake in activitiessuch as buying food or merchandise, placing a wager, view replays, etc.However, at any time during the event, the jumbo screen (204) maydisplay a hidden “unique offer” (214) that is only available to thefirst 1,000 users who respond to the “unique offer” (214) after it isdisplayed on the jumbo screen (204). A countdown (216) on the jumboscreen (204) shows the number of event user devices (14 a) that haveclaimed the “unique offer” (214). When the threshold number (1,000) isreached, the unique offer may be revealed and is no longer available toany other users. One way an event user may respond to the hidden “uniqueoffer” (214) is by scanning or rescanning the tag (16 a) while theunique offer (214) is available. In this case, the user device (14 a)may be redirected to a Web page or the like, for the unique offer (214),e.g., to input information, make payment, or the like, per a processthat is the same as/similar to the method (400). The redirect target ofthis scan, however, is the “unique offer” (214) and not the fan portal(218). Another way a user may be able to respond to the “unique offer”(214) is by a pop-up window (e.g., in/over the fan portal [218]) or thelike, which may be pushed via the socket server (324) in a nonlimitingembodiment. Thus, the term “target” should be broadly construed althoughit may be described herein with respect to obtaining a version of aninteractive DEP or other specific examples. One of ordinary skill in theart would understand a target of redirection as described herein may bea multitude of different targets with various purposes, designs,capabilities, and the like. Therefore, the target to which a particulartag (16 a, 16 b) is assigned, may be changed by simply changing thetarget identifier (e.g., “target ID”) associated therewith.

There may be instances where the content delivered via the interactiveDEP may need to be changed, updated, altered, released, opened, or othersuch stipulations based on a rule and/or other conditions. Rules may bedefined to force a modification of content already delivered, deliveradditional content, information, and/or data, release content, and/ormake other such changes as would be appreciated by one skilled in theart. In this nonlimiting example, the interactive DEP delivered at (432)FIG. 4 includes a Web application, such as a progressive Web application(PWA), that has a pull function, which may be rule-based. The pullfunction, as one nonlimiting example, may be time based, requestinginformation to be pulled from the platform (20) via the interface server(306) every 10 seconds, minutes, N seconds, N minutes or the like. Asanother nonlimiting example, the pull function has the ability to havedata updated on a rolling basis. In the sporting world, this is commonwhen updates are provided to the score of a game, the time left in agame, or both as nonlimiting examples. The platform (20), however, maypush rolling data to a user device (14 a, 14 b) instead of having itpulled from the platform. Pushed data may be sent to user devices (e.g.,14 a, 14 b) without being requested. Data may be pushed to a user device(14 a, 14 b) for any number of reasons, a few of which are detailedherein. Thus, information, data, etc., may be pushed to a user device(14 a, 14 b), pulled for a user device (14 a, 14 b) or both. In manyinstances, a Web application or the like may be based on a templatehaving dynamic elements embedded therein. The contents of such dynamicelements may be altered via push techniques, pull techniques, or both.Content, data, information, and the like, may be pushed and/or pulledvia a socket connection utilizing a socket server (324) or any othersocket connection, communication connection, protocol, or combinationsthereof as is available to the platform (20) under a set of givencircumstances. As one example, the JSON data format may be utilized byone or more aspects of the platform (20) to interchange data, althoughembodiments are not so limited.

The method detailed in FIG. 5 may be invoked while the version of theinteractive DEP (e.g., fan portal [218]) is loading on the requestinguser device (e.g., 14 a and/or 14 b), after the interactive DEP isalready loaded on the requesting user device (14 a and/or 14 b), orboth. As with all methods detailed herein, steps in the method (500) maybe used in whole or in part, in the order shown or a different order, beexecuted on one device or more than one device, be used in combinationwith some/all of the other methods described herein or as is known inthe art, or combinations thereof.

Using fan portal (218) as a nonlimiting example while referring to FIG.5 , oftentimes it may be desired to alter information, regardless oftype (e.g., video, images, instructions, etc.,) while the user is usingthe fan portal (218). Information may be altered using push, pull, andother techniques, taking advantage of the communication connection(504). The communication connection (504), which may be a socketconnection or any other appropriate type of connection, allowscommunications between the user device (14 a and/or 14 b) and theplatform (20) via the one or more networks (18). A controller (at 506)may be a set of software code for managing, directing, or generallybeing in charge of one or more rules, enabling pushing and/or pulling ofinformation per the rules. In this example, rules may be used to changecontent within the version of the interactive displayed or to bedisplayed on the user device (14 a, 14 b). The interface server at (510)may be the same interface server shown in FIG. 3 (306), just at the datasources at (512) may be the same data sources shown in FIG. 3 such asdatabase (308), administrator server (310), analytics server (312),blockchain (314), geofence (316), time (318), third party integrations(320), and proprietor portal (322), without limitation. Moreover,interface server at (510) may facilitate utilization of the forgoing, inthe same manner or similar manner as described with respect to FIG. 3 .Thus, in a sense, user device (14 a or 14 b), communication connection(504), interface server (510), and data sources (512) are shown in FIG.5 just to help the reader visualize interactions detailed in FIG. 5 .

Examples of rules that are detailed with respect to FIG. 5 include eventrules and local rules, although embodiments are not so limited.Generally, an event rule is monitored by the platform (20) and ifsatisfied causes data to be pushed to a version of the interactive DEPand a local rule, when invoked, causes a user device (14 a, 14 b) torequest data (i.e., pulls data) from the platform (20) to cause a changeto occur within an interactive DEP. An illustrative example of an eventrule is if team “A” scores a touchdown, push a digital offer to all userdevices (14 a, 14 b) that have scanned tags (16 a, 16 b) regardless ofDEP version. Here, the metric or trigger of the rule can be monitored(step 516) such as by directly sending a request or query to a datasource (at 512) via the interface server (at 510), receiving data fromthe data source (at 512) on a regular basis such as every 5 seconds, 5minutes, or the like (via the interface sever [at 510]), or combinationsof both. The platform (20) may to monitor for the metric/trigger e.g., atouchdown (step 520) and continue to do so (step 522) until ametric/trigger e.g., a touchdown has occurred (step 520, yes). If therule has been satisfied, the platform (20), can push the digital offerto all of the qualifying user devices (i.e., that have scanned a tag [16a, 16 b]). Thus, in some instances the particular version of aninteractive DEP that is loaded on a user device (14 a, 14 b) does notmatter.

A more complex event rule may include more than one trigger/metric. Forexample, the rule may be that if team “A” scores a touchdown, push adigital offer for a free beer to all event users over the age of 21 thathave used their user device (14 a) to scan a tag (16 a) in the venue(202). The first metric/trigger of whether a touchdown has been scoredmay be monitored as described above. The second metric/trigger may bemonitored (at 518, 524) in the same or similar manner if themetric/trigger warrants, or it may be determined before or after thefirst trigger/metric has been satisfied. For example, since the secondmetric/trigger in this instance relates to age, a query may be sent toone or more data sources (at 512) to find all users who are over the ageof 21. Records stored on database (308), for example, may be consultedto look for age data in connection with unique ID data to determine ifthe person who has loaded the fan portal (218) on his/her device (14 a)is of legal drinking age. As an alternative source of data or for anyother reason, the interface server (at 510) may cause another datasource (at 512) to be consulted to determine user age. For example, oneor more third party integrations (320) may have age information; thus,an API call or other query may be made to the third party integrations(320) to obtain age data. As with the first example, if the firstmetric/trigger (step 520, no) is not met (i.e., touchdown), then theplatform (20) continues to monitor the metric/trigger (step 522). If themetric/trigger (step 520, yes) has been met, the platform (20)determines if the second metric/trigger (518) has also been met (step524). Where the second trigger/metric has not been met (step 524, no)then the interactive DEP on the user device (14 a) is not updated (step528), such as with the digital offer. Depending upon the rule, thesecond metric/trigger may continue to be monitored or not. For example,if the digital offer was to be sent only one time, then once bothmetrics/triggers for the rule are satisfied, and no additionalmonitoring is needed. If, however, the rule is to send the same digitaloffer (e.g., for a beer) every time team “A” scores a touchdown, thesecond metric/trigger would not have to be redetermined in this instancesince even if the user turned 21 that day, the user's age would notchange. Of course, if the event went past midnight, the rule could bestructured to recheck ages after midnight. This does not mean that for agiven rule a second (or third, or fourth, etc.,) trigger/metric wouldnever need to be monitored. Should an additional metric/trigger bedefined by a rule that needs additional monitoring, the method (500)will be allowed to do so. Going back to step (524), if the determinationis yes, the digital offer may be pushed (526), such as via thecontroller (at 514, 506) to those users who have scanned a tag (16 a) atthe venue (202) and who are at least 21 years old. Pushed content mayupdate an element, such as a dynamic element of the interactive DEP,cause a popup to show on the user device (14 a, 14 b), send content to adigital wallet (24 a, 24 b), or any other way to push content as isknown in the art.

Local rules, as an example, may be associated with one or more versionsof an interactive DEP being utilized for a given event. Referring againto FIG. 2 and fan portal (218) as one example of an interactive DEP,each section of seats (222, 224, 226) may represent a grouping of tags(16 a) such as student/discount seats, loge seats and all other seats(e.g., default). As such, when a tag (16 a) is scanned by a user insection (222) the device (14 a) may be redirected to first template offan portal (218), when a tag (16 a) is scanned by a user in section(224), the user device (14 a) may be redirected to a second template ofa fan portal (218), and when a tag (16 a) in section (226) is scannedthe user device (14 a) it may be redirected to a third template for afan portal (218). Thus, all users may be redirected to a fan portal(218), but each fan portal (218) may be based on a different template,hence a different version of the interactive DEP. In this way, aproprietor may deliver customized content to users in different sectionsbased on the template for the version of the interactive DEP to whichthe user device (14 a) was redirected. Local rules, other elements, orboth may be written into each version's template to further customizecontent, which in some instances may be on an individualized level. Thatis elements of application code may be rules built into the system toprovide the content delivery determined by the system, or can be appliedat an earlier stage, e.g., at a tag ID or group target information (step422), which can provide a different original redirect URL/target than isreceived by or directed to, for another tag ID in a different group.

Referring back to FIG. 5 , the interface server (306, at 510) maydetermine, or cause to be determined, if there are any rules associatedwith a given template for a version of the interactive DEP such as aversion of the fan portal (218). This is especially true where the rulemay be designed as an event-type rule where content may be pushed to adevice (14 a). In this case, however, the rule may only be provided in agiven template such as for users sitting in loge seats. A given templatefor an interactive DEP, however, may also have local rules writtentherein. For example, a rule associated with a fan portal (218) templateto be distributed to loge seats, may be if the user has season tickets,then include a digital offer for discounted season tickets for thefollowing year. Thus, per this illustration the local rule may desire topull/acquire (at 508) season ticket information before, during, or afterthe version of the interactive DEP (e.g., fan portal [218]) for the logeseats is loaded on the event user device (14 a). To obtain this data,the database may be queried (at 512), via the interface server (at 510),using the unique ID to check data records for the requested information(e.g., purchased season tickets). As with the push example, if thedatabase (at 512) does not store such information, the information isinconclusive, the local rule requires confirmation from an outsidesource, or other such situations, other data sources (at 512) may beconsulted via the interface server (at 510). If the local rule issatisfied, then a digital offer for discount tickets (next season) issent to the interactive DEP. If the local rule is not satisfied, thenthe interactive DEP uses a “default” digital offer/content such as an adfor non-discounted season tickets, upgraded tickets for the next eventto be held at the venue (202) or another, similar example. In anembodiment, data associated with the unique ID may be pre-analyzed tosee if the local rule has been satisfied. Alternatively, data associatedwith the unique ID may be gathered (e.g., from a database, a third partyintegration such as a ticketing service, or the like) and analyzed whenthe event user device (14 a) makes the request. As yet another option,the data may be pre-analyzed and verified/checked for changes upon theevent user device (14 a) request. The interface sever (306) may take allof the variables from the interactive DEP application code, template,rules, and the like and send requests/queries to the appropriate datasources or links to the data sources (at 512). The data sources mayinclude data from the database (308), blockchain (314), geofence (316),timestamp (318), third party integrations (320) such as dataservers/databases, analytics server (312), and administration server(310), and a counter (at 512), without limitation.

In some implementations, a counter may be needed. For example, a countermay be enabled to maintain the countdown shown in FIG. 2 (216). Acounter may be software on platform (20) that may be used as a countingmechanism for rules or other reasons. As such, the counting mechanismmay be configured to meet the counting requirements of a rule or othercounting need. As an illustration, a counter may count the number oftags (16 a) scanned in a venue (202) during a particular event; countthe number of tags (16 a, 16 b) scanned by a particular user device (14a, 14 b) in a predetermined time window; count the tags (16 a) scannedby a particular user during a particular event; count the number oftimes a user has interacted with the interactive DEP delivered to thatuser device; or other such nonlimiting illustrations.

Thus, while the interactive DEP is displayed on a particular device (14a, 14 b), dynamic content may be seamlessly and dynamicallyupdated/changed per coding/interactions between the user device (14 a,14 b) and the platform (20). Certain dynamic changes occur through pushand pull techniques such as those detailed by FIG. 5 . However, dynamicupdates/changes may further take place through the use of various thirdparty application programming interfaces (APIs) and their respectivefunctionality. At a high level, the interface server (306) may connect,or may cause the third party integration server (320) to connect, tothird party hardware/software (e.g., server) via one or more third partyAPIs/API calls to access the respective third partyintegration/functionality as is known or will be known in the art. Thus,third party integrations/functionality may push or pull informationthrough analytics server (312), retrieve it from database (308) oranother data store, or combinations thereof, for real time/livestreaming, updating, changing, and the like as is called for byrules/instructions associated with the target (e.g., version of theinteractive DEP) of the tag ID. Furthermore, embodiments allow for theuse of interactive, two-way communications between user devices (14 a,14 b) and the platform (20) such as via the socket server (324) and/or asocket API, or the like as is known in the art.

A situation, however, may arise where a third party API or the like isnot available for a particular event or functionality. In this situationthe interactive DEP provider, proprietor, or other such party may updatethe desired functionality manually via platform (20) and push theupdates to the user devices (14 a, 14 b). Likewise, if there is videocontent in the interactive DEP, it too can be updated in real timethroughout the game via the platform (20). In addition to versions,rules, settings, customizations, and the like, an interactive DEP may bemodified due to a change in the backend template. If the backendtemplate is altered while an event is in progress, these changes may beimmediately viewable on the front end of the interactive DEP by theusers. Thus, it should be understood that there are numerous variationsregarding which interactive DEP features, elements, navigationstrategies, and the like are implemented, organized, and presentedwithin a given interactive DEP and embodiments are not limited to whatis described herein. It should be noted that upon the end of the eventor if the user closes the interactive DEP, the communication (at 504) issevered, and content may not be updated unless or until a connection(e.g., at 504) is reestablished.

As is also indicated in FIG. 5 at (508), the platform (20) may collect alarge amount of data via user devices (14 a, 14 b). For example, afterscanning a tag (16 a, 16 b) the platform (20) may receive data from theuser device (14 a, 14 b) such as date, time, and GPS or other location,the device orientation (i.e., landscape, portrait), type (e.g., iPhone,Android), IP and other addresses, and operating system as a fewexamples. Thus, methods such as methods (400, 500, or both) may beconfigured to collect and aggregate data. Additionally, tools such ascookies, widgets, plug-ins, and similar tools may also be used to obtaindata from user devices (14 a, 14 b). This, and other, information may bestored in a data source (at 512) such as database (308) or other datastorage and in association with the unique ID. Data acquired using theaforementioned tools and other tools/techniques may relate to userengagement with a target such as an interactive DEP as one nonlimitingexample. Such data may relate to digital offers presented to the user,digital offers downloaded by the user, products viewed by the user,purchases made by the user, to name a few examples. Suchtools/techniques may also gather data relating to other user engagementssuch as total screen time, Internet browsing (times, sites/pagesaccessed, software used), updates to Web pages, other Web sites visited,the Internet, and the like. The user may also directly provideinformation via the user device (14 a, 14 b) such as by inputtingpersonally identifiable information to obtain opportunities or offerssuch as unique information relating to user interests, user responses toquestions, generic information about age or sex, or any other type ofpersonally identifiable information. Such data is of high value to, forexample, advertisers, proprietors, and the like, as it provides a largeinsight into consumer purchasing and Web browsing habits.

Data related to user devices (14 a, 14 b) may also be obtained fromthird party sources. As one example, when a query, request, or the likesent to a third party, the platform (20) may provide certain informationwith that query, request, etc., such as the unique ID, tagID/interactive DEP information, or combinations thereof. Thus, datareturned by the third parties may also be stored (e.g., temporarily orpersistently) in association with unique IDs, tag IDs, interactive DEPinformation, or combinations thereof. As one nonlimiting example,service providers such as mobile/cellular providers may be queried toobtain information about user devices (14 a, 14 b). The unique IDidentifying a particular user device may be sent to the service providerto obtain information about the particular device, or the serviceprovider may provide information that may be later associated with aparticular device. Either way, the platform (20) may collect and storeinformation about users via the unique ID assigned to each user device(14 a, 14 b). As another nonlimiting example, information associatedwith unique IDs assigned to user devices (14 a, 14 b) may be collectedfrom various third party integrations (320) such as in-venue/eventmetrics, integrated third party metrics, ticket brokerage, and othertools, without limitation to the forgoing. In-venue/event metrics mayinclude data collected relating to the venue, event, or both. Forexample, information relating to user purchases at the venue and/orduring an event such as tickets, food, merchandise, and upgrades and thelike may all be gathered and stored in association with the unique ID.Similarly, ticket brokerage integrations (e.g., 320) may be used togather information from ticket brokers who sell tickets for the venue(202), event, or both, and may include a wide range of marketing data,not only about ticket purchases made, but also related information aboutthe user. Thus, third-parties, including third party metricsintegrations (320) may enable collecting information about users, userdevices (14 a, 14 b), or both from third parties including those whoparticipate in a shared program or who sell or otherwise providemarketing information, demographics, and other data about the user.

In addition to collecting and storing data associated with unique ID,the platform (20) may analyze such data, which may or may not berecorded in association with unique IDs. Data analysis may occur whileit is being collected, after it is collected and before it is stored,after storage, or combinations of the forgoing. Data, raw, analyzed, orboth, may be stored in database (308) or another data store (at 512)such as blockchain (314), without limitation. The analytics server (312)may communicate with various aspects of the platform (20), to ensuredata received from various sources is appropriately captured fordecision making, analytics, and the like. That is, analytics server(312) may communicate with (either directly or via the interface server[306]), user devices (14 a, 14 b), third parties, third partyintegrations (320), time/timestamp (318), geofence (316), blockchain(314), database (308), even proprietor portal (322), or combinationsthereof, so that data is captured as needed for desired analytics,decision making, and the like. For example, data may be subject toartificial intelligence analysis include machine learning/patternrecognition/deep learning as is now known or will be known in the art.Collected and/or analyzed data may be coupled with other informationrelating to the user/user device (14 a, 14 b), such as the unique IDassociated with the user device (14 a, 14 b) for a variety of reasons,including content selection as one nonlimiting example.

Content for display on user devices (14 a, 14 b) may be customized innumerous ways as has been detailed with respect to methods (400 and/or500). Content may also be customized where data/data analysis shows thata user has, or group of users have particular preferences. Thesepreferences may be utilized to modify content, such as advertisementsthat are delivered to that user/group of users. Furthermore, dataanalysis may allow the proprietor to generate rules specific to auser/group of users, send custom e-mails, push socket notifications orother messaging based upon the user's interactions/group of users'interactions with the platform (20), other such similar examples, orcombinations thereof. Indeed, this provides for multiple opportunitiesfor interaction and communication between the proprietor and the user tocontinue building relationships that can then be mined for longer-termrelationships. As yet another implementation, the platform (20) mayutilize unique IDs together with known information associated therewithto deliver unique advertising to users via third party advertisingservices. For example, where available, the platform (20) has theability to interface with advertising platforms to deliver a customizedexperience based on the user's search history or user information as awhole. Taking the forgoing together, it should be apparent that contentprovided to a particular user or group of users may be customized ormodified as was described above with respect to FIGS. 4 and/or 5 andthat data/information gathered as the user is engaged with the eventinteractive DEP or the like, may be used to update/modify theinteractive DEP content in real time, upon a subsequent scan of tag (16a, 16 b) by the user device (14 a, 14 b), or both (e.g., at 508). Forexample, the socket connection (at 504) may be used to deliver pulledcontent, push content, notifications, and the like, and/or dynamicallyupdate content while the event is in progress.

Analytics may also determine which feature, elements, or the likeprovided by one or more versions of an interactive DEP a user or groupof users interact with the most or spend the most time viewing. Thus,advertising on high-usage pages, features, elements, etc. may come at ahigher cost. In other words, proprietors may charge a premium toadvertisers wishing to purchase the ability to place content, such asadvertisements or digital offers on the pages or features of theinteractive DEP that receive the most traffic.

The forgoing has been described largely with reference to a sportsenvironment where event users can scan tags (16 a) located proximateeach seat (208)/other point of interest or remote users can scan MRCs(17 b) that appear on a screen such as a television or computer display.Other environments may utilize the same sort of tag (16 a) placementstrategy, such as an artistic performance where tags (16 a) may beplaced proximate a seat. However, many artistic performances are nottelevised or otherwise visually distributed while the performance istaking place. Thus, these proprietors may enable an option for patronsat a specific donation level, or season ticket holders to remotelyaccess the performance as the performance is taking place such as via anaccount on a Web site where the user can scan an MRC (17 b).Alternatively, certain remote users may receive a digital communicationsuch as an e-mail or physical communication such as a card or badge thatis similar to a credit card having information encoded thereon so thatthe remote user can scan the MRC (17 b) on the badge to access theinteractive DEP that is associated with the scanned MRC (17 b). In thisway, remote users that are unable to attend a particular liveperformance may still be able to enjoy the performance or featuresthereof via an interactive DEP. And since the interactive DEP for remoteusers may have distinctive features enabled (e.g., replays, filters)during a performance that are not available to an event user (so as tonot distract the performers) the remote user may be able to watch theentire performance on the remote user device (14 b) and access otherfeatures of the interactive DEP during the live performance.

Concerts and concert/festivals (collectively “concerts”) may utilize thetags (16 a) already in place at the venue (202) in which the concert isbeing held if the proprietor so allows; alternatively, concertproprietors may utilize a system that is not attached to the venue(202), or they may use both. As an example, concert proprietors mayinclude tags (16 a) separate from or integral with concert tickets,passes, credentials, or the like so users can scan (or click on ifdigital) the MRC (17 a) to access the desired interactive DEP. In anembodiment, the ticket, pass, credentials, or the like may be a badge orbadge-like so that it can be attached to a lanyard, put in a wallet,etc. Lanyards may be distributed with the ticket, pass, credentials,etc., or they may be purchased. As an incentive to purchase a lanyard,the lanyard may be associated with its own tag (16 a) and associatedtarget (e.g., a digital offer, upgraded interactive DEP, etc.). In anembodiment, remote users who are unable to actually attend the concertmay still be able to enjoy certain aspects of the concert via the tag(16 b) associated with a ticket, pass, credentials, etc. In anembodiment, remote users may opt to purchase just a tag (16 b) so thatthey may enjoy certain aspects of the concert via an interactive DEPwithout being there. As one nonlimiting example, the tag (16 b) mayenable the remote user to access live or recorded video of the concert,which would not otherwise be available without concert attendance.

In the case of schools and the like, tags (16 b) may be linked toparticular students and distributed to students and parents alike. Forexample, the student's tag (16 b)/MRC (17 b) may be on the student'sschool-issued ID or student-related identifier, and the parent's tag (16b)/MRC (17 b), which may be the same as or different from the student'sMRC (17 b), may be distributed to parents on a magnet, badge, card, orthe like so that the student/parent can simply scan their respectivetag/MRC (17 b) (with respective user device [14 b]) to access ainteractive DEP with information relating to the particular student suchas grades, classes, upcoming activities, as a few nonlimiting examples.In fact, with respect to graduation, concerts, sports events and thelike, a secondary interactive DEP may be accessed via a link in the“primary” interactive DEP, although embodiments are not so limited. Thatis, parents, teachers (with their own tag/MRC [16 b/17 b]) to connect totheir own version of an interactive DEP, other employees and the likemay access interactive DEPs for events relating to the school in morethan one way. One way may be via the tag/MRC (16 b/17 b) that may beused on a regular basis as described above, or via tags (16 b)permanently or temporarily placed at the school gym, auditorium, or thelike, which will enable access to the event-specific interactive DEP.

Historic sites, museums, zoos, and the like may use any of the forgoingstrategies and other unique strategies to enhance visitor experiencesvia one or more targets of a tag (16 a, 16 b), including a version ofthe interactive DEP. As one nonlimiting example, tags (16 a) may belocated at or near entrances for users to scan with their devices (14 a)to obtain a version of the interactive DEP. Additional tags (16 a) maybe located at, near, within, etc., various exhibits to providesupplementary content. In this way, the interactive DEP connected to atag (16 a) may be streamlined and supplemented at-will. In anembodiment, users may buy merchandise/concessions via in-venue tags (16a) much like the stadium example. By making a purchase, the user may usea tag (16 a) associated with the purchase to connect to yet anothertarget for that particular tag (16 a) such as a coupon, discounted entrytickets, and free entry tickets, an upgraded interactive DEP as a fewnonlimiting examples. In fact, with any of the forgoing examples tags(16 a, 16 b) may be placed on or with merchandise of all sorts to beable to access targets such as coupons and/or other incentives.

Thus, per the forgoing description, it should be appreciated that aninteractive DEP can be tailored to achieve the proprietor's goals.Clearly, one proprietor's goals for an interactive DEP may differ fromanother proprietor's goals, and as such interactive DEPs may expressedin a multitude of different formats, layouts, designs, versions etc.,that may include numerous variations on functions, features, rules,instructions, etc. Nonetheless, interactive DEPs typically include atleast one feature/module with dynamic content that may be altered insome manner at least during the course of the event. Thus, what anindividual user may experience via that user's interactive DEP is notnecessarily the same as what any other user will experience. Using FIG.2 as a nonlimiting example, all in-venue users may receive aninteractive DEP in response to scanning a tag (16 a) with theirrespective user device (14 a). Each stadium section (222, 224, 226),however, may receive a different version of the interactive DEP, due toredirection as was explained with respect to FIG. 4 . And within aparticular version, content that one user sees may be different based onuser data and/or rules as was explained with respect to FIG. 5 . Even ifthe version and content are the same, individual users typically willnot interact with the interactive DEP in the same way at the same time,which will also cause each user to have a unique experience.

There are many features/modules that a proprietor may include in aninteractive DEP, including, without limitation, a map (602), a roster(604), replays (606), augmented reality (608), fan camera/fan filter(610), live statistics (612), NFT (614), wagering (616), audienceparticipation (618), upcoming events (620), merchandise (622),concessions (624), and other (626), as is shown on the features page ofthe interactive “1 Game Day Program” (600) of FIG. 6 . The game dayprogram (600) is an extensive “fan portal” (218) type format for aninteractive DEP. Although advertisements are not shown on the home pagefor the game day program (600) of FIG. 6 , it should be understood thatadvertising and other content may be included on the home page, and/orany other page/pages of the game day program (600). Further,advertising, especially dynamic advertising, is an important feature ofan interactive DEP since advertising may offset proprietors' costs andallow users to obtain an interactive DEP for free.

In some instances, a proprietor may select a book-like format ratherthan a “fan portal” type format to implement an interactive DEP. As yetanother alternative, a proprietor may include a book-like interactiveDEP as a feature/module of a “fan portal” type interactive DEP (600).FIG. 7 depicts a nonlimiting example of a few pages taken from abook-like interactive DEP (700) distributed by a city zoo. The coverpage (702) of the interactive DEP (700) may be what zoo visitors seeafter they scan a tag (16 a), or it may be what a user sees afterlinking to the interactive DEP (700) via a selectable option on a homepage of a fan portal type interactive DEP. The cover page (702) mayemulate a cover page of a traditional paper program. However, icons,images, or the like on the cover page (702) may link to other pageseither within the interactive DEP or external thereto. Features/moduleslisted on the Game Day Program (600) may be included on the pages of theinteractive DEP (700) shown in FIG. 7 , or the interactive city zoo DEP(700) may include modifications of a “standard” feature/module. Forexample, on page 2 (710) of the City Zoo's interactive DEP (700) the“exhibits” (712) and/or “animals” (714) feature/modules may bevariations on a game day “roster” feature depicting an animal, here aseal (704). And, although not shown in FIG. 7 , the book-likeinteractive DEP (700) may also include a navigation pane/bar to assistwith navigating a digital document as is known in the art. Sinceinteractive DEPs are meant to fit many different proprietors' needs,features/modules may be created/customized to meet those needs and arenot limited to the examples described herein. Furthermore, although onlytwo types of formats are shown herein, it would be understood that suchformatting is a matter of choice, and an interactive DEP may beformatted, designed, laid out, have features, functions, and otheraccessories not detailed herein, that are still within the spirit of theinvention.

MAP FEATURE: It is not unusual for an interactive DEP to include aninteractive map of the venue/event, especially where the venue/event islarge or difficult to navigate. The interactive map may utilize one ormore third party integrations (320), other integrations, databases orother sources information, rules, instructions, API calls, other calls,user device data and/or capabilities, or combinations thereof to providethe desired map functionality. For example, if Janet, who is sitting inseat 1, row A, section 100, of a stadium wants to know where the nearestrestroom is located, she may select the map feature (e.g., FIG. 6 ,[602]) to link to a map of the stadium. Alternatively, if Janet is atthe zoo and she wants to know where the nearest restroom is relative toher current location she may turn or navigate to the page that has themap of the zoo or a link to the map of the zoo (FIG. 7 , [706]).

Map features may include a search function to search for a specificlocation within the stadium, may automatically provide routes to themost frequently visited locations such as restrooms and concessions,locations that Janet has visited in the past in the same venue or atdifferent venues (e.g., restrooms), or combinations of the forgoing.Alternatively, Janet may simply tap her desired destination on the mapto receive a route to the destination. The route may be the shortestroute, route with the least traffic, destination with the shortest line,or the like, in a manner that is analogous to routes that are shown onstreet maps using data gathered from various sources. As one nonlimitingexample, the analytics server (312) may receive data about Janet fromdatabase (308) using the unique ID for her device (14 a), mapping and/orother functionality from a third party source (320), geofence (316) datato determine how many user devices (14 a) are within a predeterminedarea (e.g., to estimate line length, traffic patterns etc.,), GPS datafrom Janet's user device (14 a), other user devices (14 a), or both, anyother available data, or combinations thereof, to determine the bestroute for Janet to reach her best destination and display that route onthe map in the interactive DEP. The analytics server (312) may receivedata directly via queries to the various data sources or via theinterface server (306), which may manage the activities to get Janet theinformation she is seeking. Map related content may be pushed, pulled,or both, via the socket or other connection between the user device (14a) and the platform (20).

In an embodiment, dynamic content may be unlocked in response to usingthe map feature/module. For example, if Janet is trying to find herfavorite concession or restaurant at the event/venue and she uses themap, a digital offer for the concession or restaurant may be displayedon or in the interactive DEP, may automatically be loaded into thedigital wallet (24 a) on her device, or other such examples. When Janetgoes to pay for her food, she may then redeem the digital offer. The mapfeature may also identify additional tags and or areas of interest,wherein a user may be directed, via the map, to certain tags to engagewith the event or the environment defined by the map. Such maps can alsobe utilized, therefore, for scavenger hunt like games, which require auser to find, identify, and scan certain tags as part of an event or aspart of a challenge or task within one or more of the embodiments.

Remote users have little need for an interactive map of a venue, event,or the like. Thus, a map function may not be included in the interactiveDEP distributed to a remote user. Alternatively, the map feature may useGPS coordinates, geolocation information, geofence data, tag IDinformation, other such information, or the like, and provide a suitablemap to the map feature such as the area surrounding the remote userdevice (14 b). This may be especially helpful to those users who are outof town and do not know their surrounding areas. Like with Janet, if theremote user searches for a participating restaurant, a digital offer forthe restaurant may be displayed on or in the interactive DEP, deliveredto the digital wallet (24 b) on the remote user device (14 b), or othersuch location. Since the digital offer is being sent to a remote user itmay have an expiration date that is longer than an in-venue digitaloffer, which typically expire when the venue closes after the event.

ROSTER: It is also not unusual to have a roster, or a modified roster inan interactive DEP. As is shown on the game day program (600) there maybe a selectable link to a roster (604). Rosters formats and layouts arepractically limitless and can range from simple to complex. For example,a simple roster may show an image of the person and their associateddata such as name, position, schools attended, and certain statistics. Acomplex roster may include full pages dedicated to each person withimages, videos, complete professional history, personal history,personal statistics, player analysis, associated merchandise, NFTs,wagering opportunities, the ability to donate to the player's charitablecause, and more. In contrast to a regular event program, in aninteractive DEP typically static elements (e.g., statistics, images,videos, etc.) may be dynamic, updating as the event takes place. Thesechanges may be the result of one or more rules used to push, pull, orboth dynamic content to the interactive digital program (e.g., 600,700). For example, one or more rules may be written to monitor for ametric or trigger related to a particular player such as a personalbest, event record, world record, or the like in the same or similarmanner that was detailed in FIG. 5 . If the metric/trigger is detectedwhile the event is in progress (e.g., most passing yards in a singlegame), then dynamic content may be updated with fresh content. Forexample, an image of the player making the historic pass may replace acurrent image, a video clip of the historic pass may replace the currentvideo, the player's statistics should update, a pre-recoded video may bereleased, merchandise related to the player may be promoted and/ordiscounted, a commemorative NFT may be released, and wagers may be takenas just a few examples. As one specific example, a statistic such arecord-breaking number of passing yards in a single game, may be tied toan advertising integration such that if the metric/trigger is detected,then a digital offer for a fast food restaurant may be unlocked forusers (in-venue and/or remote) to redeem. The user may simply tap on thedigital offer to move the digital offer out of the interactive DEP andinto the user's digital wallet for redemption at any time and withoutthe interactive DEP. All of this may take place within the interactiveDEP during the event as the user is looking at the particular playerspage or when the user gets to the page (or any other page that thecontent may be contained on) thanks to various API functionalities andother functionalities connected to the interactive DEP. A roster (604)may be the same or different on different versions of an interactive DEP(e.g., going to different groupings of tags [16 a]) or for in venue andremote users or both.

As is shown in FIG. 7 , the city zoo interactive DEP (700) includes amodified roster for exhibits (712) and one for animals (714). Modifiedrosters may also be included in interactive DEPs for other sites such asmuseums, historic buildings, and similar places. The modified roster forthe zoo exhibits (712) may include images and videos showing highlightsof the exhibits including feeding times, times when the animals are mostlikely going to be active, and other information of interest to zoovisitors. The modified roster for zoo animals (714) may include one ormore pages dedicated to the animals as individuals, groups, or both,trivia (716) regarding animals or other games related to the animals orthe zoo in general. These pages may also include images, videos,merchandise, and the like. Further, video of the exhibits, animals, orboth may be streamed in the interactive DEP (700) so that if a specialprogram (e.g., feeding time, meet the trainer, a show, etc.) ishappening and a user who cannot get close enough to the action or who isat the other side of the zoo can still see the special program via theinteractive DEP. Images may be updated dynamically as well. For example,images may be cycled, taken from a video feed, uploaded by users toshare, other similar examples, and combinations thereof. A metric ortrigger may be associated with an exhibit or animal so that uponsatisfaction of the metric/trigger an action may be taken. As onenonlimiting example, tags (16 a) may be associated with each exhibit todirect in-venue users to additional content related to the exhibitand/or animals in the exhibit. Additional content may include histories,stories, video interviews with zoo personnel about the exhibits/animals,additional images, videos, and the like. The platform (20) may beenabled to count, via a counter, the number of times the tag (16 a) forthe exhibit has been scanned in a day, week, month, year, in total, etc.Alternatively, the counter may be enabled to count the number of times aparticular user uses his/her device (14 a) to scan distinct tags (16 a)in the zoo. When the number reaches a predetermined number (e.g., 10,100, 1000, etc.) content may be release, unlocked, or otherwise madeavailable per a rule to which the metric/trigger is tied. For example, azoo sponsor may provide a giveaway to the 100,000th user to scan aparticular tag (16 a) such as a free zoo membership for the next year,which may appear as a digital offer for the winning user to redeem.Alternatively, after an individual user scans a predetermined number oftags the individual user may receive a digital certificate that enablesthe user to go “behind the scenes” with a trainer or paint a picturewith an elephant or the like. The digital offer, certificate, or thelike may be delivered directly to the digital wallet (24 a) on the userdevice (14 a), or it may be displayed on/in the interactive DEP anddownloaded to the digital wallet (24 a) by simply clicking on theoffer/certificate.

VIDEO REPLAYS AND OTHER VIDEO: A unique feature of embodiments ofinteractive DEPs includes the ability to watch a replay of some or allof the event. Although, sports games often show replays of somethingthat just happened, especially when the action is exciting or undergoinganalysis viewers generally have little control over what is displayed,when it is displayed and how it is displayed. Within the interactiveDEP, however, users may have control over what replay the user watches,how the replay is watched, and when the user wants to watch it. Forexample, the game day program (600) may have a replay module/feature(606). The replay module/feature (606) may include a listing of replaysthat have occurred during the game. Thus, the user may select a replayfrom the list as it becomes available, watch a replay that happenedearlier in the game, or both. The user may also be able to controlreplay speed (regular, fast, slow motion), pause the replay, rewind thereplay, stop the replay at any point, and other functions while watchingthe replay of choice.

Although the game day program (600) has a replay module/feature (606)dedicated to video replays, replays may be distributed elsewhere in theinteractive DEP. As one nonlimiting example, replays may be shown on apage dedicated to a player or several players, especially if the replaycaptured a momentous occasion. Or the same replay may be accessed frommore than one location in an interactive DEP. This may be especiallytrue in a book-like format where a user may want to see the replay incontext. Taking the city zoo interactive DEP (700) as an example, a listof replays of exciting, cute, or other unique animal activity may beassociated with an exhibit (712), animal (714), or both. Nevertheless,the city zoo interactive DEP (700) may have a feature/module (718)dedicated to recordings that can be themed for funny things that animalsdo, educational videos, or both. Regardless of where replay/recordedvideos may be displayed in interactive DEPs, video recordings/e-playsmay be cycled, listed, or other presentation to allow the user to selectand control the video as the user desires.

Video content is not limited to replays taken from action in the game orthe like. Video content may also include interviews with owners,managers, trainers, professional commentators, sponsors; team footage orother footage, advertisements, digital offers, and other content made invideo format, or combinations thereof and regardless of interactive DEPformat. This type of content may be listed, switched out in real time,cycled, etc., as determined by various rules and/or other instructionsthat enable the content to be acquired from a data source (e.g., at 512)and delivered to the interactive DEP in a manner the same as or similarto that described with respect to method (500).

Indeed, real time exchange of advertising videos, sponsorship videos, orother videos that may require “viewing time” to be purchased, wouldallow viewing time to be sold on an ongoing basis, even during theevent, which is not possible in print programs. As one nonlimitingexample, an in-venue retailer (e.g., concessions, merchandise, etc.) mayrealize that it has an overstock or surplus of inventory that it wouldlike to unload before the event ends. The in-venue retailer may purchasea time slot for video or other content to be displayed in theinteractive DEP. As one option, the backend for an interactive DEP canbe modified so that the changes are immediately viewable in the frontend (e.g., what the user sees) of the digital program. The backendchanges may be global to be applied to all versions of the interactiveDEP for the event or select to be applied only for interactive DEPsdistributed with in the venue, for a particular grouping, both, etc.Backend changes may be made to one or more templates, rules, a “mastertemplet,” “master code,” or other such backend changes. Time slots,however, may also be purchased in advance so that certain content isshown during the purchased time much like television advertising ispurchased. As yet another option, in much the same way, an advertiser,sponsor, other organization, or the like may purchase time for theirmessage to be shown on the jumbo screen (e.g., FIG. 2 at [204]) or alive televised message. The advertiser et. al., may purchase time fortheir message to be shown in the interactive DEP at the same time it isbeing shown on the jumbo screen (204) or on a live broadcast. In thisway, the user may be prompted to act on the message directly from theirinteractive DEP, such as by purchasing food, drinks, merchandise, NFTs,etc., placing wagers, or any other action allowed via the particularversion of the interactive DEP displayed on the user device (14 a, 14b), including downloading a digital offer to the digital wallet (24 a,24 b) on the user device (14 a, 14 b). Thus, an embodiment offersreal-time value-added pricing of advertisements or the like, whilesimultaneously offering users the most dynamic experience with immediateand actionable content in the interactive DEP.

AUGMENTED REALITY: Many of the experiences afforded by an interactiveDEP may also be augmented via an augmented reality (AR) feature/module(608, 722). Generally, the AR feature/module (608, 722) enables a userdevice (14 a, 14 b) to digital elements to be added to or overlayed onobjects, images, video, or the like that the camera (FIG. 2 , [212]) onthe user device (14 a, 14 b) is pointing at or that is being displayedon the user device (14 a, 14 b) screen. As one nonlimiting example, whenJanet is navigating to the restroom, she may point the camera (212) onher device (14 a) in front of her to see the route superimposed on theimage provided by the device camera (212). At the same time, she mayreceive information about concessions, restaurants, stores, lines, etc.as she is making her way to her destination. Information may alsoinclude digital offers that Janet can tap to download to her digitalwallet (24 a). Thus, when in AR mode, Janet may receive a wealth ofinformation about her surroundings just by pointing the camera (212) onher user device (14 a) in the direction she wants augmented. In much thesame way, an AR feature/module may be utilized with the interactive DEPdistributed by the city zoo (700). As another nonlimiting example, thezoo may provide supplementary information about exhibits, animals, andother points of interest when in AR mode (722) so that when the userpoints the camera (212) on her/his device (14 a) at a particularexhibit, animal, or similar point of interest, information about thatexhibit, animal, etc., may be overlayed onto the image displayed on theuser device (14 a). To enable this type of AR activity, the platform mayutilize hardware and/or native software on the user device (14 a, 14 b),instructions delivered via the interactive DEP, code executed by one ormore platform (20) servers (e.g., 302, 306, 310, 312, etc.,); data fromthe user device (14 a, 14 b), database (308), or any other data source;one or more third party integrations (320); or combinations thereof togather data about the user's surroundings for augmentation thereof.

Users may also view captured video with AR objects, effects, filters,etc., disposed thereon. For example, cameras (FIG. 2 , [206 a, 206 b,206 c, 206 d]) at the venue (202) may be used to record the game inprogress. These cameras may be any type of camera used for this orsimilar purposes as is known in the art. Cameras (206 a, 206 b, 206 c,206 d) may also be equipped or associated with Lidar sensors (lightdetection and ranging sensors), have high-definition capabilities, have,or be associated with other such enhanced features/capabilities, orcombinations thereof. Generally, recorded video may be made available touser in a manner that is the same as or similar to regular video replaysexcept to implement AR activities, the video may first need to beprocessed to be compatible with certain AR effects. For example, theuser may be able to place an avatar on a replay either in a position onthe field, on a particular player, on an object such as a ball, or othersuch options. The replay may then be shown with the avatar disposedthereon, viewed from the perspective of the avatar whether it be on thefield, player, object or other, or combinations thereof. In otherinstances, the user may wish to “draw” on the replay much like aprofessional commentator or the like. Of course, the forgoing arenonlimiting examples of what a user at any venue or watching any eventmay do with AR capabilities. Some of the AR playbacks may depend uponthird party integrations, especially where there is a need forspecialized equipment, specialized processing, etc., This is easilyachievable through the platform (20) providing the interactive DEPutilizing one or more third party integrations (320). These integrations(320) may be via APIs, may be directly provided to the platform (20), orcombinations thereof. Further, native hardware/software on the userdevice (14 a) may be utilized to send and receive data, instructions, orthe like to/from the platform (20), and the platform (20) may provideadditional server-side processing of data etc. received from the userdevice (14 a, 14 b), the third party integrations (320), or combinationsthereof to allow the user to manipulate the AR (or other) replay asdesired.

The proprietor does not have to make AR content available all of thetime. Certain content may be tied to a rule or rules having one or moremetrics/triggers to be satisfied before being made available to users.For example, certain replays (AR enabled or not) may only be availablefor a window of time after initial release, whereas other replays mayonly be available if the footage includes a significant occurrence suchas a record being broken. As yet another example, a user may have towatch a promotion, take a survey, or participate in some other activitybefore content is made available to the user.

Advertisers, sponsors, organizations, etc., may also use aspects of theAR feature/module to their advantage. Advertisements or other messagesmay have to be viewed before the user can access the AR feature/module,they may be overlayed on the AR content, popup during viewing of the ARcontent, and/or other such similar ways advertising is made available.Furthermore, AR content may be sponsored by a specific advertiser andalthough not an ad per se, a notation regarding the business,organization, etc., sponsorship of certain content may also serveadvertising purposes. For example, sponsored content may have “broughtto you by XYZ company” or the like disposed over the content such as atthe beginning or end of the content.

Although shown as a separate selectable option on the game day program(600), a fan camera and/or fan filter (610) may be made available tousers. The fan filter feature/module (610) may be a specific use of ARsimilar to filters used by various types of social media. The filtersavailable via the interactive DEP, however, may be tailored to meet theproprietors needs such as by only offering options that support theteam, game, venue, event, or other purpose. For example, the user may belimited to using team colors, mascot, logos, emblems, and the like.Embodiments, however, are not limited thereto. Moreover, fan filters maybe integrated with social media platforms to be shared with remote usersor others. The city zoo interactive DEP may also offer a zoo camera/zoofilter feature (720) that is the same as or similar to the one found inthe game day program (600). In these cases, the available filter may bebased on animals at the particular zoo or other famous animals.

The fan camera/zoo camera may be used alone or in connection with the ARfeature/module. Generally, the fan camera/zoo camera utilizes one ormore third party integrations (320) to provide video images from anyangle. This capability may rely on specialized equipment includingcameras, computers, sensors, etc., which were mentioned above. Theresult of this integration is to enable users to see a replay or thelike from any available angle: top, bottom, and all around (e.g., thevenue/exhibit, etc.) regardless of where the user is located. Thus, theuser can see the same video footage from several different angles shouldthe user desire. This technology may also be used to add AR overlays onthe playback so the user may add an avatar or the like to a player,ball, or at another position and view the playback from the avatar'spoint of view.

Advancements in video technologies can generate visual experiences thatare beyond normal replay and fan experiences. In an embodiment, theproprietor could deliver a custom message to a user (e-mail, text, pushnotification), to scan a tag (16 a) that would provide a custom ARexperience to each user. At the end, the user could be provided with adigital offer to add to the digital wallet.

REAL-TIME STATISTICS: A live statistics module/feature (612) may beespecially useful in game day programs or other programs wherestatistics are commonly collected with respect to the event. Livestatistics may be on one or more dedicated pages, sprinkled throughoutthe DEP such as on a page dedicated to a player, proximate an article,or combinations thereof. Moreover, statistics may be presented as isusual for the event or may be presented as the proprietor desires. As afew nonlimiting examples, statistics for a football game may by team,player, offensive team, defensive team, special teams, quarter, half,game, season, or combinations thereof and without limitation. Statisticsmay also be used to highlight team and/or player milestones and may evenprovide a countdown toward the milestone, used to dynamically rankplayers across a league, on a team, or the like, to play fantasy sports,and for wagering, to list a few examples.

The live statistics module/feature (612) may be updated in real timeusing one or more rules to push or pull data for the interactive DEP,much like the rules described with respect to FIG. 5 . As one example,statistics and related data (e.g., scores, time remaining, time elapsed,other time considerations, etc.,) may be updated at regular intervals(e.g., every N seconds, minutes), upon a change in the score orstatistical change, and other metrics/triggers. Updates may be madeusing data sources such the database (308), analytics server (312),third party integrations (320), and other data sources. As anotherexample, as an image element or the like associated with a statisticselement so that when the statistics change so does the image in theimage element. For example, player Adams has just scored so thestatistics for the game have changed, the statistics for player Adamshas changed, and other statistics may have also changed. Adams' image isinserted into the image element next to the statistics change to put aface with the new numbers. Thereafter, Bob sacks the quarterback; thus,statistics change, and so does the image by the statistics (e.g., Bob'simage) In an embodiment, one or more rules may be written to define thedynamic updating detailed above. The platform (20) may draw from imagesof players stored in the database (308) and associated with anidentifier that relates the images with a statistics identifier such asa name, player number, position, etc.

Advertisers, sponsors, and other organizations may use statistics todistribute digital offers via the interactive DEP. For example, a rulemay be written to allow a sponsor offer to be unlocked, pushed, pulled,or the like if the home team scores 20 points in the first half, or ifthe home team intercepts twice during the second half, or any otherconditions that an advertiser or sponsor may want to tie their digitaloffer to. Further, the advertiser, et. al., may want only certain usersto receive their offer. Thus, the rule may also include a second, third,or fourth metric (as was explained with respect to FIG. 5 ), to limitdistribution to a certain segment of the user population.

Although live updated statistics is interesting in the sports worldwhere statistics, scores, and the like are updated in real time in thedigital program as the game is being played, statistics per se are notlimited to sporting events. Data may be gathered and analyzed withrespect to a wide variety of topics. Taking the zoo for example,statistical information may be distributed within the interactive DEPamong other content, be put in a “trivia” form, gathered onto one ormore dedicated pages, any other layout option, or combinations thereof.The statistics may relate to animals (e.g., gestation period, life span,estimated numbers in the wild, conservation efforts, feeding habits andamounts), habitats, global warming impacts, and the like or to the zooor zoos in general such as the average number of visitors per day, week,year, etc., daily, weekly, yearly, etc., costs to run, number ofemployees, ranking compared to other zoos, area attractions, or othersimilar type of data.

If statistical information is not available from a third party source,it may be maintained and updated by the interactive digital programprovider, the proprietor, or both. Statistics (and/or other information)may be updated manually via one or more platforms (20).

NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS: Many proprietors are taking advantage of theability to tokenize memorabilia, collectables, and the like as a way forusers to commemorate their participation in and/or attendance at anevent. Generally, an NFT is associated with subject matter (digital orphysical) that is perceived to have some value. The NFT may record atransaction relating to the subject matter on a blockchain such as adistributed ledger. The subject matter itself, and the metadata (e.g.,including interest/rights in the subject matter) may be stored elsewheresuch the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). Proof of the transaction(e.g., purchase of the NFT) may be stored in a digital wallet (e.g., 24a, 24 b), or another linked wallet that is designed for such a purpose.The NFT feature/module (618, 724), allows event and/or remote users toacquire an NFT whether it be through a purchase, an auction, freelydistributed, or another mode of acquisition.

The acquisition of an NFT may take advantage of one or more third partyintegrations (320) such as NFT blockchains that host and mint NFTs, NFTmarketplaces that list and sell NFTs, other NFT related resources, andcombinations of the forgoing. Before being able to acquire an NFT,certain measures may be taken to ensure that the user is entitled to NFTacquisition. As a few non limiting examples, the platform (20) mayensure that the device (14 a, 14 b) that scanned the tag (16 a, 16 b)belongs to the person that bought the ticket to the seat, that thedevice (14 a, 14 b) that scanned the tag (16 a, 16 b) is in the properlocation, that the tag (16 a, 16 b) was scanned at the proper time,other verifications, and combinations thereof.

A business may sponsor an NFT to be given away to only those people whopurchased tickets for certain seats. Thus, the platform (20) may querydata sources such as the database (308), third party integrations (320),or any other data source to determine if the user device (14 a) thatscanned the tag (16 a) identifying the “winning” seat (208) belongs tothe ticketholder for that seat (208). Generally, the platform (20) maycheck to see if there is information associated with the unique ID forthe device (14 a) and a ticket for the seat identified by the tag IDsuch as a digital ticket on the device, a ticket purchased via a thirdparty, a paper ticket that can be scanned and confirmed or the like. Inthe same way, a proprietor may grant the first 100 fans that havescanned an in-venue tag (16 a) an NFT for the interactive DEP. In thisscenario, the platform (20) could gather data from the user devices (14a), the geofence (316), and the time (318) to ensure that only theconfirmed 100 devices are enabled to acquire the NFT. In this example,user 101 and beyond may receive a message that the offer has expired orthe like. As yet another example, the city zoo may offer what appears tobe an unlimited NFT of, for example, a photo of baby animal right afterit was born. The zoo, however, may provide different editions of a photoor ownership rights in a photo by limiting the acquisition to thoseusers at the zoo on a particular day, have scanned a tag (16 a) by theexhibit with the baby animal, and by patron level (e.g., gold, silver,bronze, none). In this instance, the platform (20) would verify all ofthe metrics/triggers to enable NFT acquisition to only those users whohave satisfied the rule and how they have satisfied the rule (e.g.,patron level, if any) so that the users are only aware of the subjectmatter for which they qualify per the rule. From the forgoing it shouldbe understood that the ways to incorporate the NFT feature/module (614,730) into an interactive DEP are only limited by what a rule andassociated metrics/triggers dictate if a rule is even used to limit theacquisition of an NFT.

WAGERING: Although wagering, betting, or the like may be more applicableto sporting events or the like, a wagering feature/module (616) may beadapted to enable proprietors to offer raffles, prize drawings, andother enter-to-win type prizes (726). Thus, a wagering feature/module(616, 726) is not limited to sports betting or the like. As with otherfeatures/modules, an interactive DEP may have a selectable option (616)to launch one or more pages dedicated to wagering or the wageringfeature (616, 726) may be distributed throughout the interactive DEPsuch as with statistics, on a player page, or other similar setting.Where wagering is related to sports betting or the like, the wageringmay be limited to the game in progress, related fantasy sports, or thelike, although embodiments are not so limited. Further, for officialwagering, a third party integration (320) may be employed with one ormore vetted gambling venues are available to the user. To be able to usesuch a third party integration, the platform may first determine, orattempt to determine that the user device (14 a, 14 b) is being operatedby a person who is of legal gambling age. Such a determination may bemade using the unique ID to search data sources such as database (308),official identification (e.g., driver's license) in the digital wallet(24 a, 24 b), third party integrations (320), other data sources, andthe like. And if the user is a remote user, the platform (20) may seekto determine that the remote user is located in a geographical area inwhich gambling is legal. Again, the platform (20) may use any dataavailable to it to make this determination such as the unique ID incombination with a geofence, device GPS coordinates, etc., orcombinations thereof. Verified users (in-venue, remote, both) would needto enable their digital wallet (24 a, 24 b) or another wallet to allowthe third party gambling venue (320) to be able to place bets anddeposit winnings. Third party gambling venues, proprietors, advertisers,sponsors, ticketing agents, or other may provide gambling opportunitiesas incentives for their products. For example, ticketing agents mayoffer a gambling credit (to qualified users) for expensive seats orhard-to-sell seats, or gambling venues may (320) provide a gamblingcredit to certain sections, seats, or other grouping, as two nonlimitingexamples. Alternatively, a third party gambling venue (320) may randomlyselect a winning seat, a winning tag (16 a) scanned (e.g., at [310]) forthe event or the like, where the winner gets free beer for the entiregame, a gambling credit, or similar type of prize. Of course, in each ofthe forgoing situations, the platform (20) may seek to verify that thedevice (14 a) that scanned a tag (16 a) identifying a qualified/winningseat belongs to the person that purchased the ticket for the seat as wasdescribed with reference to NFTs, and that the person is of a qualifiedage (e.g., 21), as was described with respect to FIG. 5 . Thus, theinteractive DEP may provide an avenue to placing live or in-play wagerswhile being able to see real time statistics, odds, and the like allwhile an event is in progress and by the scan of a tag (16 a, 16 b).

In an enter-to-win type of wagering adaptation (726), which may beemployed by a venue/event such as the city zoo, the platform (20) mayrandomly select a winner using data associated with a unique ID or thelike. For example, a server may randomly select a unique ID associatedwith those users who opted to enter to win. A notification may be sentto the user device (14 a) associated with that unique ID. A zoo employeemay have a “verification code” on a handheld device or the like that theuser device (14 a) has to scan to confirm that the unique ID for theuser device (14 a) that scanned the verification code is the same as theone that was selected to win. If the unique IDs match, the user holdingthe device (14 a) may collect the prize. holding the unique ID is theselected to win

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: An embodiment of an interactive DEP may alsoinclude an audience participation feature (618, 728). Not all versionsof an interactive DEP for an event may include this feature; it may bedistributed to those seats that are more likely to desire this type ofcontent, although embodiments are not so limited. Nonlimiting examplesof activities that involve audience participation include pollingactivities, cheering activities, doing the wave, and other types ofactives as appropriate for the event or venue. Both in venue and remoteusers may participate in real time polling such as voting for a favoriteplayer, predicting the outcome of game, predicting a final score, andthe like. Polling questions and results may be displayed on the jumboscreen (204), the interactive DEP (700), or both. Real time polling andother types of audience participation events may be on an individualbasis or a group basis. Referring to FIG. 2 , the platform (20) may takeindividual polling responses in each section, 222, 224, 226, determinethe answer with the highest frequency, and assign that answer/responseto the section as a whole. In this way, polling activities may be basedon a grouping of tags (16 a, 16 b) instead of individual tags (16 a, 16b). Group polling activities are not limited to averaging or the like;they may occur via alternative mechanisms.

Of course, such polling is not limited to sporting events; any event orvenue may offer real time participation activities that appeal to theirparticular audiences. For example, the city zoo may have a “vote now”(728) or other adaptation of an audience participation feature. Sincezoo visitors are typically widely dispersed, results of polling may betallied at the end of a predetermined time and sent to the user device(14 a, 14 b)

UPCOMING EVENTS: Many event programs include a listing of events thatare scheduled for a given time (e.g., season, year, month, etc.).Traditional paper programs typically only included a list of events tobe held at a particular venue (202), although sometimes they may listevents to be held nearby such as within the same city or othergeographical area. Thus, a listing of upcoming events tends to bethought of as static list. But many events may be inserted into aschedule, rescheduled, canceled and the like. Thus, without the abilityto update a listing of upcoming events the list may be incomplete and/orincorrect when distributed in a static program.

The upcoming events feature/module (620, 708) of an interactive DEP isdynamic at least by being able to reflect changes to event line ups asthey are noted in a data source from which the list draws information.Moreover, the interactive DEP as described herein may customize alisting of upcoming events for a particular user. For example, theunique ID and data aggregated therewith may give insights into what typeof events a particular user enjoys. If the user has a high number oftags (16 a) scanned at venues relating to performing arts, historicbuildings, museums, or the like the user may receive a listing ofupcoming events that weighs heavier on these types of events even thoughthe user is presently at a sporting event and looking at thecorresponding sporting event interactive DEP. As another example, theplatform (20) may use the unique ID to determine where the user isprimarily located geographically so that if the user scans a tag (16 a,16 b) outside of his/her primary geographic location the platform (20)may use the unique ID, associated data, and other data to provide acustomized list for the user's current geographical location thatcorresponds to the time that the user is estimated to be away fromhis/her primary geographical location, a customized list for the user'sprimary geographical location and after the user is estimated to return,or both. And if the platform (20) determines that the user who scanned atag (16 a) such as for a sports team that is not at the sports team'shome arena, the user may be able to select between an interactive DEPfor the home team or for the away team. In this way, the user may beable to keep up with information relating to his team of preference. Inother situations, a listing of upcoming events may relate to locationswhere the team, company, troupe, or the like is next appearing. In somecases, the user may be able to use the interactive DEP (e.g., other[626]) to link to a third party ticketing broker via a third partyintegration (320) to purchase tickets at the out-of-town venue.

The interactive DEP provided by the city zoo includes a specialdays/daily special feature/module (708). This is essentially the same asupcoming events (620) described above. The daily specials, however, mayprovide dynamic content such as a video, an article, or other updatableelement to inform users about a unique activity happening at the zoothat day such as a special exhibit, NFT raffle, face painting, as just afew examples. Special days may relate to upcoming holidays, days with aspecial theme or activity, extended or reduced hours, fundraisers, orany other special day. These types of interactive DEP elements may onlybe updated every so often, but the fact remains that they are stilldynamic. The proprietor does not have to print a new list if somethingchanges—it is a simple update of data that will automatically bring thenew listing to users via the interactive DEP. The zoo too can provide acustomized list of upcoming events as was detailed above with respect tothe game day program (600).

CONTACTLESS TRANSACTIONS: Users, whether at the event or remote, maytake advantage of one or more interactive DEP features/modules thatenable contactless transactions such as ordering food (624, 734),merchandise (622, 736), tickets (e.g., other [626, 732]), or the like.While at a venue (202) the platform (20) knows which tag (16 a) wasscanned by the user device (14 a) via the tag ID. Thus, the in-venuevendor may deliver the purchase to the user at the location identifiedby the tag (16 a), such as the user's seat or another location specifiedby the user when the order was placed. Alternatively, the user may optto pick up his/her purchase at the vendor location after placing theorder, receiving a notice that the order is ready, or other suchmessaging/notification.

Remote users may still be able to take advantage of contactlesstransactions via the interactive DEP. For example, a remote user may beable to connect to participating local eateries to have food delivered.The platform (20) may use a data associated with the users device (14 b)including data associated with the unique ID assigned to that remoteuser device (14 b) to determine the user's primary location or exactlocation (e.g., GPS), use third party integrations (320) to accessparticipating vendors in the remote user's geolocation, and allow theuser to place a food or other order to be delivered to the user'slocation. Similarly, remote users may also make in-venue purchases formerchandise (622) or other non-perishables that can be delivered to anaddress provided by the remote user via the interactive DEP, connect toin-venue or third party ticket providers to purchase ticket for one ormore upcoming events or other similar transactions.

In-venue retailers may be able to take particular advantage of theinteractive DEP. For example, digital offers can be sent to user devices(14 a, 14 b) via the game day program (600, 700). They can be directlyloaded into the user's wallet (24 a, 24 b)) or appear in a popup windowor a placeholder within the interactive DEP for dynamic content such asin-venue retailer offers or the like so that the user can tap on theoffer before it is downloaded to his/her digital wallet (24 a, 24 b). Inthis way, the user may redeem the digital offer when making acontactless transaction via the interactive DEP, although the digitaloffer may not be limited to contactless transactions. This providesconcession owners, retail owners, and advertisers an ability toimmediately see conversion rate of a digital offer that is issued (e.g.,100 coupons were downloaded via an interactive DEP and 80 wereredeemed).

Digital offers may also interface with surplus inventory at the venue.For example, if the concession stand has a surplus of hotdogs, thecustomized offer could BOGO hotdogs. Such information can be encodedthrough a third party integration (320) that generates and automatesthis information. For example, the total inventory of food or beveragesmay be displayed to an in-venue user or can be accessible to a managerof the concessions so as to effectively manage the operations for thevenue.

Additionally, the merchandise portion of the interactive DEP may belinked, via a third party integration (320) to the POS to the teamstore. This would allow for dynamic pricing of merchandise based oninformation from the POS. For example, if there is an overstock ofmerchandise for a particular player, or other merchandise if at the cityzoo for example, the platform (20) may generate a digital offer for adiscount to purchase merchandise. Alternatively, if a player, zooanimal, or the like celebrated a milestone, such as player scoring his10,000th point, a zoo animal being the first of its kind to be born incaptivity, or other such milestone, a dynamic digital offer in theinteractive DEP may change to advertise the discounted merchandise.

Mobile payment is a rapidly expanding business segment and NFCapplications such as, for example, contactless transactions are expectedto be the most widely adopted form of mobile payments. Embodiments ofthe invention provide users with the ability to establish radiocommunication (e.g., NFC) or other communication between the user device(14 a, 14 b) and the plurality of tags (16 a, 16 b) by touching themtogether or bringing them into close proximity. In this way, paymentinformation may be automatically transferred from a secure location(e.g., digital wallet [24 a, 24 b]) to the platform (20) to complete thecontactless transaction.

ADVERTISING AND DIGITAL OFFERS: Advertising and digital offers (e.g., at724) may also be a form of dynamic content contained in an interactiveDEP. Advertising and digital offers may be distributed throughout theinteractive DEP, contained on one or more dedicated pages or both.Further, advertising and/or digital offers may be unlocked, released,ungrayed, or the like per one or more rules having one or moremetrics/triggers associated therewith as is described with respect toFIG. 5 . Digital offers may be loaded directly into a digital wallet (24a, 24 b) or may be tapped to be downloaded to a digital wallet (24 a, 24b). For those users who desire to keep receiving information, digitaloffers, and the like outside of the interactive DEP, the user maydownload “VIP Card” or the like to their digital wallet (24 a, 24 b).The proprietor, advertisers, sponsors, or the like may then use the VIPCard to send notifications to the user about venue/event promotions,updates, or any other information to the user device (14 a, 14 b). Thus,there is ample opportunity to be creative when it comes to digitaloffers.

Advertising, digital offers, and the like may be changed within theinteractive DEP on a regular basis such as via a designated time slot,in a cycle, or other timing-based basis; based on a trigger/metricdefined by a rule, whether the digital offer is shared, based onin-venue inventory levels, or other metrics, triggers, or circumstances.Some of these dynamic alterations have already been discussed withrespect to another feature/module such as dynamic pricing of in-venueconcessions, merchandise, or the like.

For example, an interactive DEP obtained by scanning an in-venue tag (16a) may include an advertising space (e.g., in only in-venue versions ofthe interactive DEP) linked to a specific in-venue retailer. Thatretailer could promote its business in real time offering distinctdiscounts at different times during the event, upon the occurrence of ametric, trigger, other condition, or another defined parameter. That theadvertising, offers, and the like are only going to in-venue users maybe controlled by the tag ID (e.g., for an in-venue point of interest), ageofence (316) around the event/venue, GPS coordinates from the userdevice (14 a), time data (318), or combinations thereof.

In some instances where a user has a digital offer downloaded to theuser device (14 a, 14 b), the user may transfer the digital offer to oneor more other user devices. If the user transfers the digital offer to apredefined number of other user devices, the digital offer may increase.For example, upon opening the interactive DEP the individual may selectindividual a digital offer and download it to her/his device (14 a, 14b). The digital offer may be linked to the unique ID for the device (14a, 14 b), a unique certificate, or the like to track sharing. If theuser transfers the digital offer to, for example, five other deviceswithin a fixed time period such as, for example, a week, the digitaloffer automatically upgrades so that when the user goes to redeem theoffer, the offer has been increased from 10% to 20% off. This capabilityoffers further incentives for users to transfer their digital offers tofamily and friends so that they will receive greater discounts. Also,this capability will allow brands and retailers to watch their promotiongo viral from a first point of download (e.g., via the interactive DEP)to various locations where the digital offers are transferred betweenvarious user devices. Some digital offers may be shared and tracked viaNFC, MMS, SMS, social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. Asa variation, digital offers may be browser based, stored in a digitalwallet (24 a, 24 b), or both.

As has been detailed with respect to FIG. 5 , a digital offer,advertisement, or other dynamic content may be made available to usersbased upon the fulfillment of one or more metrics/triggers or othercondition to satisfy a rule. For example, a rule may be written to allowdynamic content to be released at or near the end of the event, if aparticular team wins at a sporting event, if one or both teams at asporting event scored a predetermined number of points, if a particularmetric, trigger, or the like occurred such as a touchdown, a homerun, astolen base, a 3-point shot, etc., or any other conceivable metric,trigger, condition or the like, or combinations thereof. In a specificimplementation, a rule or other instructions may be written so that athird party advertising integration (320) may check on another thirdparty integration (320) such as statistics, to see if a metric, trigger,condition, or the like has occurred (e.g., the quarter back threw arecord number of touchdown passes), which would then release the digitaloffer for user consumption.

As with other forms of dynamic content, advertising, digital offers, andthe like in the interactive DEP may also be customized in a manner thatis the same as or similar to customization described with respect toFIG. 5 . For example, conditions, triggers, metrics, or the like may beused to generate specific and tailored information, offers, and contentbased upon the particular user information and actions of the user thatmay be associated with the unique ID. As one nonlimiting example, theunique ID may be used to determine the type of content that the usertypically views on the user device (14 a, 14 b) and display anadvertisement, digital offer, or the like based on that user's uniquehistory. Additionally, advertisers, sponsors, or the like may want theircontent to only be displayed in the interactive DEP to users who fittheir demographic profile. As such, unique IDs may be used together withother available information to deliver the designated content to justthose users. Alternatively, user demographics may be assumed based onwhere the user is sitting or otherwise located at an event. In this way,advertisements, offers, and other content relating to luxury items maybe distributed to only those users who purchased seats that areindicative of the ability to purchase such luxury items. As yet anotherexample, different versions of an interactive DEP may receive exclusivecontent, digital offers, advertisements, etc., based on the perceivedpreferences for users sitting in those seats. It may be perceived thatyounger users will sit in discounted areas of a stadium, buy cheapertickets to concerts, or the like and as such, advertisements, offers,and other content may be included in the interactive DEP version forsuch a grouping. At the other extreme, it may be believed that onlythose users with large disposable incomes will spend the money forexpensive seats, locations, or the like and so content, includingadvertisements, digital offers and the like for high-end items may beincluded in the version of the interactive DEP to be distributed to thatgrouping. In this way certain exclusive content may be offered todifferent versions of an interactive DEP. Of course, content,advertisements, and the like may in some instances be customized basedon information associated with a unique ID. For example, a young personmay be extremely wealthy, but likes to sit in discount seats. Thus, theinteractive DEP distributed to that user device may be a version that isthe same as or similar to one to be distributed to expensive seats.

Since advertising space in an interactive DEP may be limited, it may bemore valuable. Thus, advertising, offers, and other purchased contenttime/space may be priced accordingly. For example, advertising to bedistributed to a grouping including expensive tickets for the event maycost more than to a grouping including cheaper tickets. Additionally,pricing for an event that is more exclusive may also cost more to theadvertiser, sponsor, or the like. Thus, the cost to advertise in aparticular version or all versions of an interactive DEP may also bedynamic. To offset costs, in an embodiment, advertising space and thelike may be sold on a “pay per click” basis, such as by the number oftags (16 a, 16 b) were scanned at a particular event, on a particularday, in a given time frame or the like, by the number of digital offersthat were downloaded, by the number of digital offers that were used, orany other trackable pricing scheme. Advertising space may also be soldon a tiered basis. For example, advertising on a home page, or topfeatures/modules viewed may have one cost level, which decreases as thedetermined usage of the feature/module decreases. Also, advertising,digital offers, and the like may be dynamically moved during the eventif the feature, module, page, etc. that receives the most usage during aparticular event is different than what is expected. As one example, anadvertiser may pay for a space on the first page seen for an interactiveDEP, but a replay of some exciting action is being viewed by most of theusers and they are skipping over the first page. An administrator may beable to move the content to the page that is in actual use or it mayhappen automatically, thereby ensuring that the paid for content is infact being displayed per the purchase plan, price, etc.

Eventually the event will end, even if it a daily event such as a zoo,museum, or the like. In some embodiments, connection to the interactiveDEP is also cut off. Thus, although the user may still be able to see acached copy of the interactive DEP, nothing in copy will be updated,altered, modified or the like. Alternatively, the interactive DEP maycontinue to be used use by the user. As one example, the proprietor mayopt to have the interactive DEP maintained by the platform (20), and assuch it may function much like a traditional web site, but one that isonly available to users who have previously scanned a tag (16 a, 16 b)for the interactive DEP during the event. In this way, proprietors maystay in communication with its customers (i.e., event users, remoteusers) an updated the interactive DEP latest content, offers, etc. on anongoing basis. In fact, in some instances, the proprietor may keep oneor more “expired” (i.e., for an event that is over) interactive DEPs asa historic document such as for a season, keeping certain content,offers, etc. static while providing new dynamic content. For example, ahistoric version of an interactive DEP may provide recaps (video,images, text) of the event or related sequence of events (e.g., over asports season), change or reup digital offers, keep certain digitaloffers open for subsequent use, among other possibilities. Keeping ahistoric document will not interfere with a user being able to scan thesame tag (16 a) at the venue to receive the latest interactive DEP aseach DEP has a different URL, ID, etc. and the latest tag (16 a) scanwill lead the user device (14 a) to the correct interactive DEP for thecurrent event in progress.

PROPRIETOR ADMINISTRATIVE OR OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES:Proprietors may manage their network of tags (16 a, 16 b) using theproprietor portal (FIG. 3 , [322]). In an embodiment, proprietor portal(322) is software suite running on platform (20). The proprietor mayaccess the portal (322) via a Web browser, other application, or bothexecuting on the administrator device (FIG. 1 , [12]). The interface forthe proprietor portal may be one or more browser-based Web pages, aWeb-based application, a progressive Web application, a downloadableapplication, a native application, and a cloud-based application (toname just a few examples), which may be delivered to the administratordevice (12) by the redirect/identification server (302). Thus, theproprietor may be able to view and manage various aspects associatedwith the proprietor's venue, event, network, etc. including viewing thereal-time status of all tags (16 a, 16 b), interactive DEP templates,URLs, content, and more.

Indeed, much of the platform (20) may be accessible to the proprietorsuch as the database (308) to manage data relate to tags (16 a, 16 b),interactive DEP templates, content, unique IDs, data verified usingverification techniques/algorithms, data verified as part of ablockchain distributed ledger, other data stored thereon, andcombinations thereof. In an embodiment, the analytics server (312) mayretain device (14 a, 14 b) requests and/or data from past userinteractions with one or more tags (16 a, 16 b), including interactionsassigned to individual user devices (14 a, 14 b) and/or collectiveinteractions of some or all user devices (14 a, 14 b). The analyticsserver (312) may also incorporate third party data from outside sourcesthird party integrations (320), blockchains (314), and others. Thus, theanalytics server (312) may run software to analyze collected data fromsome or all of the forgoing to help optimize what a particular userexperiences through his/her interactive DEP. As nonlimiting examples,analytics server (312) may use information from cookies, log files, pagetags (e.g., JavaScript code embedded in Web pages), associated with aunique ID, and combinations thereof for reporting to the interfaceserver (306), administrator server (310) or the like. Indeed, in animplementation, some or all of the administrative tasks may be performedby a platform (20) administrator via administrator server (310). As onenonlimiting example, a platform (20) administrator may be called upon towrite rules for one or more versions of an interactive DEP, especiallywhen the rule(s) need to be written in a specific coding language thatthe proprietor is not familiar with.

Typical administrative activities associated with a network of tags (16a, 16 b) include those relating to tag (16 a, 16 b) management,creating, updating, managing interactive DEP templates, reporting, andmore. The examples detailed herein are for illustrative purposes onlyand are not intended to limit how a proprietor may choose to view,manage, generate, store, or otherwise manipulate data. Additionally, itshould be realized that the actual proprietor may not be performingadministrative or other such tasks. Typically, these are handed off toagents, employees, or other representatives of the proprietor. In somecircumstances, stadium officials may be able to access the proprietorportal (322) from a handheld device such as a smartphone, tablet or thelike so that they may perform certain tasks on the go.

Tag management may include tasks such as, without limitation, assigningeach tag (16 a, 16 b) in a network to a distinct point of interest,creating tag groupings, assigning an employee to one or more tags orgroups of tags, and additional tasks. Assigning each tag (16 a, 16 b) toa distinct point of interest includes linking the tag ID to the distinctpoint of interest so that when the tag (16 a, 16 b) is scanned by a userdevice (14 a, 14 b) the point of interest is known via the tag assignedthereto. To help ensure that tags, in particular in-venue tags (16 a)have not been tampered with, the interactive DEP may include a referenceto the point of interest it is associated with such as “This Game DayProgram is for seat 1, row A, section 100” or something similar thereto.If tampering is a problem, the user may even be required to confirm thatthe tag (16 a) scanned corresponds to the seat or other point ofinterest before the interactive DEP is displayed on the user device (14a).

The proprietor may also group tags (16 a, 16 b) via the proprietorportal (322). Tag (16 a, 16 b) grouping is flexible to meet the needs ofthe proprietor at any time. Thus, tags (16 a, 16 b) may be grouped,regrouped, sub-grouped, etc. on demand. Grouping tags (16 a, 16 b) maybe advantageous for many reasons. As one nonlimiting example, tags (16a, 16 b) may be grouped to deliver different versions of interactiveDEPs to different users such as those in the venue, remote from thevenue, and other such grouping which have been detailed herein. Althoughgrouping tags (16 a, 16 b) enables certain activities to belong to thegrouping such as content pushed or the like, each tag (16 a, 16 b)remains autonomous e.g., the platform (20) still knows which particulartag (16 a, 16 b) was scanned by a user device (14 a, 14 b) and it knowsto which group the particular tag (16 a, 16 b) belongs.

It should be noted that scanning a tag (16 a, 16 b) does not alwaysresult in the loading of an interactive DEP on a user device. Theproprietor can associate each tag ID with an endpoint outcome suchchanging certain phone settings, creating and sending a text, launchingan application other than one associated with an interactive DEP,turning on device via Bluetooth or any number of commands to beexecuted, limited only by the communication device. Another endpointoutcome may be to redirect the user device (14 a, 14 b) to a Webpage/Web site other than the interactive DEP such as one for aparticular advertiser, sponsor, organization, or the like. This type ofredirection may occur at different times during an event so that if auser scans a tag (16 a, 16 b) for the first time or if the user rescansthe tag (16 a, 16 b) during the event, the user device (14 a, 14 b) willbe redirected to the advertiser, et. al.'s page instead of theinteractive DEP. In this way, multiple different advertisers can utilizethe plurality of tags (16 a, 16 b) during the event.

Of course, the endpoint outcome may also be loading a version of theinteractive DEP on the user device (14 a, 14 b). In an embodiment, theproprietor may log in to the proprietor portal (322) to access one ormore Web-based templates for a given interactive DEP. Generally, theproprietor may choose a format (e.g., like the game day program [600] orthe book-like program [700]) and drag and drop placeholders forfeatures, elements, content, etc. in the template to correspond with adesired visual layout. For instance, placeholder for an article may bedragged and dropped on a particular page and in a particular location onthe page. Other placeholders for surrounding content such as images,video, advertising, etc. may also be dragged and dropped as desired.This flexible approach may be handled in-house, which also enables theproprietor to alter the template at any time, even during the event.Further, it is easy to create versions of the interactive DEP from sucha backend template driven approach. That is, the same basic layout maybe used for several different versions of the interactive DEP for thesame event. The proprietor may assign different content to go with thedifferent versions and make other tweaks to a particular version of theinteractive DEP. Of course, the proprietor may always create acompletely different format, layout, or both for a version of theinteractive DEP.

Assigning different content to different placeholders may be as simpleas causing the placeholder in one version to be linked to oneadvertisement, image, NFT, or the like, and the placeholder in a secondversion of the interactive DEP to be linked to a second advertisement,image, NFT, or the like. As one nonlimiting example, a link to contentmay be via a URI such as a URL. Moreover, if the content is dynamiccontent the link may lead to a third party integration (320), which mayutilize one or more APIs, although embodiments are not so limited. Thus,content may continuously be delivered to the interactive DEP via thethird party integration. As one example, a template placeholder forstatistics may be substituted with statistics content in the interactiveDEP that is continuously updated, but a third party integration for ajournal article may be substituted for its placeholder only one timewithout additional updates, as is the general nature for journalarticles. Actual content inserted into the interactive DEP in lieu of aplaceholder may be governed by a rule having one or more metric,triggers, or the like. Savvy proprietors may be able to write their ownrules and cause them to accurately function within the interactive DEP.Alternatively, an administrator for the platform (20) may assist withthis or any other task. Rules may be written to allow certain content tobecome available when certain metrics, thresholds, triggers, etc. havebeen met. Such conditions may be simple, e.g., update every N second, orthey may be very sophisticated and complex. Nevertheless, rules,metrics, triggers, thresholds, and other conditions may allow eachinteractive DEP distributed to users during an event to be highlycustomized for a particular user.

When a template, its content, rules, etc. are finished, or even beforeit is finished, the URL for the template may be assigned and attached toa venue (e.g., if the proprietor has several venues), an event, both, agroup within the venue (202), a geographical location, a Web page (e.g.,for the venue, event, both), a network, a regional network, or any otherdesignation for accurate distribution. In this way, when a user device(14 a, 14 b) scans a tag (16 a, 16 b) the tag ID may be used to redirectthe user device (14 a, 14 b) to the proper template for the interactiveDEP for the particular event in which the user is engaged. Thereafter,placeholders may be populated with content for user consumption anddynamically updated such as by content updating instructions includingone or more rules.

Thus, the use of a template allows for easy distribution and simplemodification by proprietors. However, savvy users can modify and usetheir own forms or unique formatting as necessary for each instanceother than rely on a platform (20) provided template. By utilizingsimple formatting, such as in a template, information, including thosebeing captured in a live format from a third party integration (320),can be added via “drag and drop” type creation, which allows forextremely simply modifications. For example, content can be createdbefore an event and continually modified as an event unfolds. Theinteractive digital interactive program can be mobile first and containvarious native features that allow for an engaging fan experience.

Proprietors have the ability to monitor their network of tags (16 a, 16b) via the proprietor portal (322) viewing data in various graphic formssuch as graphs, charts, diagrams, etc. The proprietor may monitor thestatus of points of interest (e.g., via the network of tags) in realtime as the event is in progress. In this way, the proprietor may seehow users interact with tags (16 a, 16 b) and can make any adjustmentsas the proprietor sees fit. During the course of monitoring, theproprietor may manually update content based on data collected, feedbackreceived, and the like. If a change is made to a template while theevent is in progress, the change is automatically applied to theinteractive DEP on the user device (14 a, 14 b).

In an embodiment, a proprietor may want to receive feedback from users.User input may be a valuable source of information for a wide variety ofpurposes such as determining user satisfaction. According to embodimentsof the invention, a feedback feature/module may be placed in theinteractive DEP so that users can submit comments directly to theproprietor. Such feedback may be in the form of fillable fields,surveys, written comments, or combinations thereof.

A proprietor may also run reports utilizing the proprietor portal (322).For example, the proprietor may view information relating to overallusage statistics, group statistics, individual tag statistics,statistics about which features/modules are used the most, if they areused more on one page versus another page, and much more. In anembodiment, the proprietor may even be able to run a report on tag usageacross several events, venues, or the like. Usage reports may beconfigured for information such as the number of times a given tag hasbeen scanned by any user during a period of time (e.g., day, week, hour,etc.) or the number of times any tag has been scanned by a particularuser during a period of time, or many other ways in which a proprietormay want to analyze the data.

Referring back to FIG. 3 , the infrastructure detailed therein isexemplary, dividing processing between at least two servers (e.g.,redirect/identification server [302] and interface server [306]), butembodiments are not so limited. The numbers and types of servers andsoftware may be scaled up, down, and distributed according to platform(20) demands/needs. Furthermore, more than one virtual machine may runon a single computer and a computer/virtual machine may run more thanone type of server software (e.g., the software that performs a service,e.g., Web service, application service, and the like). Thus, in someinstances platform (20) may include one computer for all processingdemands, and in other instances platform (20) may include several,hundreds, or even more computers to meet processing demands.Additionally, hardware, software, and firmware may be included in orremoved from platform (20) to increase functionality, storage, and thelike as needed/desired.

Administrator device (12), which is shown in FIG. 1 , may be any type ofcomputer such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet, and thelike. Similarly, user device (14 a or 14 b) may be any type ofprocessing device such as a handheld computer (e.g., phone, smartphone,tablet, personal digital assistant), wearable computer (e.g., watch,glasses), or portable computers (e.g., laptop, netbooks). Scanning ofthe tag (16 a, 16 b) from the user device (14 a or 14 b) is performedthrough near-field communication (NFC) or use of a camera on the userdevice (14 a or 14 b) to scan the visible quick response code (QR code).Administrator device (12) and user devices (14 a or 14 b) typicallyinclude a browser application to facilitate communications with one ormore servers among other things.

Computer (12), user devices (14 a, 14 b), and servers (e.g., 302, 306,310, 312, 320, 322, and 324) may each be a general-purpose computer.Thus, each computer includes the appropriate hardware, firmware, andsoftware to enable the computer to function as intended and as needed toimplement features detailed herein. For example, a general-purposecomputer may include, without limitation, a chipset, processor, memory,storage, graphics subsystem, and applications. The chipset may providecommunication among the processor, memory, storage, graphics subsystem,and applications. The processor may be any processing unit, processor,or instruction set computers or processors as is known in the art. Forexample, the processor may be an instruction set based computer orprocessor (e.g., x86 instruction set compatible processor),dual/multicore processors, dual/multicore mobile processors, or anyother microprocessing or central processing unit (CPU). Likewise, thememory may be any suitable memory device such as Random Access Memory(RAM), Dynamic Random-Access memory (DRAM), or Static RAM (SRAM),without limitation. The processor together with at least the memory mayimplement system and application software including instructions,including methods, disclosed herein. Examples of suitable storageincludes magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives, tape drives, aninternal storage device, an attached storage device, flash memory, harddrives, and/or solid-state drives (SSD), although embodiments are not solimited.

In an embodiment, servers (e.g., 302, 306, 310, 312, 320, 322, an/or324) may include database server functionality to manage database (308)or another database. Although not shown, infrastructure variations mayallow for database (308) to have a dedicated database server machine.Database (308) and any other database may be any suitable database suchas hierarchical, network, relational, object-oriented, multimodal,nonrelational, self-driving, intelligent, and/or cloud based to name afew examples. Although a single database (308) is shown in FIG. 3 , inembodiments database (308) may comprise more than one database, the morethan one database may be distributed across many locations, and data maybe redundantly recorded in the more than one database. Furthermore, datamay be stored in blocks that are part of a chronological blockchain(314) and may be dispersed across a decentralized distributed ledger.Blocks of data in a blockchain are linked in such a way that tamperingwith one block breaks the chain. Thus, digital data stored in ablockchain is verifiable with an elevated level of integrity. Therefore,the database (308) may also be a distributed database system, utilizingblockchain (e.g., 314) to provide for storage of NFTs or the likerelated to the system. As with any distributed database, the number ofdatabases and particular nature of the blockchain storage is dependenton the particular exchange or blockchain utilized for the NFT as onenonlimiting example. The use of a distributed database system is wellknown and the storage of an NFT or the like requires the use of suchsystems. Geofence (316) and Time (318) may be software services providedby the platform (20). These services (316, 318) may be executed by anyor all of the computing machines, virtual or otherwise, found on theplatform (20). These services may use data from one or more user devices(14 a, 14 b) and other data sources to provide their intendedfunctionality as is known in the art.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments and illustrations describedherein are provided by way of example, and that the present invention isnot limited to what has been particularly disclosed. Rather, the scopeof the present invention includes both combinations and sub combinationsof the various features described above, as well as variations andmodifications thereof that would occur to persons skilled in the artupon reading the forgoing description and that are not disclosed in theprior art. Therefore, the various systems and methods may include one orall of the limitations of an embodiment, be performed in any order, ormay combine limitations from different embodiments, as would beunderstood by those implementing the various methods and systemsdetailed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for distributing different versions ofan interactive digital event program corresponding to a same event to aplurality of user devices while at the same event comprising: a.grouping tags distributed within a venue into either a first group or asecond group, each tag encoding a tag identifier that identifies aparticular point of interest within the venue; b. assigning tags in thefirst group to a first version of the interactive digital event programand assigning tags in the second group to a second version of theinteractive digital program; c. receiving a request for the interactivedigital event program from a first user device, the request received inresponse to using the first user device to scan a first tag encoded witha first tag identifier, which was received with the request from thefirst user device; d. determining, using the first tag identifier,whether the event is in progress, and if the event is in progress,determining, using the first tag identifier, that the first tag belongsto the first group of tags; and e. providing the first user device withthe first version of the interactive digital event program, the firstversion of the interactive digital event program to include at least onedynamic content element that is capable of being updated while the eventis in progress.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein updating the at leastone dynamic content element includes updating dynamic content selectedfrom the group consisting of: a map, a video replay, augmented reality,live action video, a fan camera, a fan filter, live statistics, anon-fungible token, wagering, an audience participation activity,upcoming events, merchandise, concessions, a digital offer, and aticket.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein updating the at least onedynamic content element includes unlocking a digital offer in responseto detecting the use of an in-venue map.
 4. The method of claim 3wherein updating the at least one dynamic content element includesdisposing icons on the in-venue map corresponding to locations of one ormore additional tags that are distributed within the venue in which theevent is taking place.
 5. The method of claim 4 further comprisingfacilitating a scavenger hunt within the venue utilizing the one or moreadditional tags.
 6. The method of claim 2 wherein updating the at leastone dynamic content element includes updating the dynamic contentelement to include a digital offer, the digital offer to beautomatically downloaded to a digital wallet on the first user device.7. The method of claim 2 wherein updating the at least one dynamiccontent element includes updating the dynamic content element to includestreamed live action video taking place at the event.
 8. The method ofclaim 2 wherein updating the at least one dynamic content elementincludes updating the dynamic content element to include a video replayof action that took place during the event.
 9. The method of claim 2wherein updating dynamic content includes updating a digital offer basedon current levels of inventory available at the event.
 10. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising linking the at least one dynamic contentelement to a third party integration for a digital offer after the eventhas started.
 11. The method of claim 1 further comprising dynamicallymoving the at least one dynamic content element within the first versionof the interactive digital event program while the event is taking placeto maximize exposure of the at least one dynamic content element to aplurality of users.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least onedynamic content element includes a digital offer and syncing the digitaloffer to advertising shown on a jumbo screen, a televised broadcast ofthe event, or both.
 13. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least onedynamic content element includes statistical information, updating thestatistical information in real time as the event is taking place, andinserting a dynamic image element proximate to the statisticalinformation to dynamically display an image corresponding to thestatistical information.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein updating theat least one dynamic content element includes updating the at least onedynamic content element to include an offer for a non-fungible token ofthe first version of the interactive digital event program.
 15. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the at least one dynamic content element is alisting of upcoming events comprising including customizing the listingof upcoming events based on a tag scanning history associated with thefirst user device, a primary geographical position associated with thefirst user device, a current geographical position associated with thefirst user device, or combinations thereof.
 16. The method of claim 1further comprising updating the interactive digital event program afterthe event is over.
 17. The method of claim 1 further comprising basingthe interactive digital event program on a template, the at least onedynamic content element dragged and dropped into a desired positionwithin the template, and wherein the at least one dynamic contentelement can be modified by an administrator within the template.
 18. Themethod of claim 17 further including repositioning the at least onedynamic content element in the template while the event is taking place.19. The method of claim 1 further comprising: f. receiving a secondrequest for the interactive digital program from a second user device,the second request received in response to using the second user deviceto scan a second tag encoded with a second tag identifier, which wasreceived with the second request; g. determining, using the second tagidentifier, whether the event is in progress, and if the event is inprogress, using the second tag identifier to determine that the secondtag belongs to the second group of tags; and h. providing the seconduser device with the second version of the interactive digital eventprogram, the second version to include a dynamic content element to beupdated while the event is in progress.
 20. The method of claim 19wherein the first tag and the second tag are respectively affixed to afirst seat and a second seat within the venue in which the event isbeing held.
 21. A method of distributing different versions of aninteractive digital event program for a particular event to user devicescomprising: a. designing a first template for a browser-basedapplication, the first template for a first version of the interactivedigital event program, by dragging and dropping a plurality of dynamiccontent elements into the first template to complete a first desiredlayout; b. designing a second template for a browser-based application,the second template for a second version of the interactive digitalevent program, by dragging and dropping the plurality of dynamic contentelements into the second template to complete a second desired layout,which is different from the first desired layout; c. associating eachdynamic content element in the first template and in the second templatewith a distinct data source to enable dynamically updating contentwithin the dynamic content element while the particular event is inprogress; d. assigning the first version of the interactive digitalevent program to a first group of tags, and the second version of theinteractive digital event program to a second group of tags, each taghaving a unique tag identifier; e. in response to receiving the uniquetag identifier with a request for the interactive digital event programfrom the user device that has scanned a particular tag, determining,using the unique tag identifier, whether an event is in progress, and ifthe event is in progress, to which group the particular tag belongs; f.sending the version of the interactive digital event program assigned tothe group of tags in which the particular tag belongs to the user devicethat sent the request; and g. causing the distinct data sources topopulate the dynamic content elements in the version of the interactivedigital event program sent to the user device, the content of least oneof the dynamic content elements to be updated while the event is inprogress.
 22. A system for providing an interactive digital eventprogram comprising: a. a plurality of tags distributed within a venueand associated with a particular point of interest, each tag in theplurality having a machine-readable code and a unique tag identifier; b.a server having a computer processor and computer memory; c. a databaseoperatively connected to the server, the database including informationrelating to each tag in the plurality of tags, the information relatingto each tag including: i. the particular point of interest associatedtherewith; ii. the unique tag identifier; iii. a group identifier toidentify a group to which the tag belongs; and iv. a pointer to atemplate for an interactive digital event program to be distributed tothe group in which the tag belongs; and d. wherein the computer memoryof the server stores executable code which when executed enables theserver to perform a process comprising: i. in response to receiving arequest from a user device that has scanned a tag, using the unique tagidentifier from the scanned tag to identify each of the associated pointof interest, if an event is in progress, and a group to which thescanned tag belongs; ii. populating the template for the interactivedigital event program to be distributed to the group in which the tagbelongs with one or more dynamic content elements; iii. sending thepopulated interactive digital event program to the user device that sentthe request; and iv. updating content of at least one dynamic contentelement in response to detecting a predefined trigger based on activitywithin the event that optionally occurred during the event.
 23. Thesystem of claim 22 wherein updating the content of the at least onedynamic content element includes pushing updated content from a thirdparty data source to the at least one dynamic content element inresponse to detecting the predefined trigger.
 24. The system of claim 22wherein updating the content of at least one dynamic content elementincludes unlocking content in response to detecting the predefinedtrigger.
 25. The system of claim 22 wherein the predefined trigger is athreshold number and dynamically updating includes detecting that thethreshold number has been reached and unlocking the content in responseto reaching the threshold number.
 26. The system of claim 22 wherein thecontent of the at least one dynamic content element is subject matterassociated with a non-fungible token (NFT) and updating the content ofat least one dynamic content element in response to detecting apredefined trigger includes unlocking the subject matter in response todetecting the predefined trigger to enable acquisition of the NFT. 27.The system of claim 22 wherein the user device comprises a unique IDwherein the unique ID defines an entry within a database and wherein theentry comprises information regarding actions of the unique ID;aggregating the data regarding the unique ID from said database; andcreating a tag grouping based upon the aggregated data on the unique IDand modifying the dynamic content element on said interactive digitalevent program.
 28. The system of claim 27 wherein the system collectsand aggregates analytical user data corresponding to said unique ID whensaid user device is interacting with the interactive digital eventprogram.
 29. The system of claim 22 wherein the dynamic content elementis a real-time polling question and wherein a result from the real-timepolling question is displayed.